Department of Insurance believes that insurance policies will increase in cost next year
The South Carolina Department of Insurance has predicted that the four health insurance companies that are selling policies through the state’s insurance exchange will again sell these policies during the exchange’s next open enrollment period. These plans will go active next year, but the agency believes that they will be more expensive than they were during the last open enrollment period. The agency will not know for sure if these policies will be more expensive until later this year.
Policies may become more expensive based on historic trends in the national insurance market
Insurers participating in the state’s exchange are required to file their rate proposals for new and existing policies by September of this year. The four insurance companies that are selling policies through the state’s exchange have not yet filed their rate proposals. Based on national trends, however, it is very likely for these policies to become more expensive, but it is unclear how much more expensive they will be compared to how much they cost in the past.
The state has opted to allow the federal government to manage its insurance exchange, which means that South Carolina has limited authority over the exchange marketplace itself. While insurers participating in the state’s exchange must still comply with the state’s regulations and standards, the exchange is primarily regulated by federal authorities. As such, South Carolina officials have little power to approve or deny rate proposals for policies being sold through the state’s insurance exchange.
Cost of policies will be determined by examination of various trends that exist in the South Carolina market, as well as new trends that begin to emerge in the market
It is common for health insurance policies to become more expensive over time. The cost of policies sold through the exchange will be affected by trends emerging in the South Carolina market. These trends have to do with the overall age of people purchasing insurance coverage and the health issues they face as well as the medical costs that insurers face in a given year.
