Those living in the state will be saving over $500 million on coverage premiums this year.
Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York state, has just announced that the new power that has been given to the state to limit the increases in health insurance rates is already showing its benefits to the residents of the state.
The state has limited a number of increases that insurers had proposed within the state.
Cuomo said that this year alone, New Yorkers will not have to pay the over half a million in rate increases that may otherwise have been applied to 2013 premiums if not for the regulation. He announced on Sunday, January 6, that the average increase that had been requested by health insurers was approximately 12.4 percent.
However, the DFS in the state reduced the average health insurance rate increase considerably.
In fact, the Department of Financial Services reduced the average increase for health insurance rate to 7.5 percent. This action was taken within the boundaries of a law that is now two years old. It has to do with the policies that provide coverage for approximately 2.3 million residents of the state. It primarily impacts small group coverage, but also has to do with individuals with coverage from large group HMOs, direct pay plans for individuals, as well as Medicare Supplement policies.
Health insurance companies that wish to raise their rates within New York must first propose their intentions and justify them to the state. The Department of Financial Services then has the opportunity to approve or refuse the proposed changes to the rates, depending on what they believe to be just and appropriate.
According to Governor Cuomo, in this circumstance, holding the health insurance rates back from the sizeable increases that had initially been proposed is one of the most important steps to ensuring that everyone in the state will be able to afford their medical coverage. He also went on to say that this is only a start, and that a great deal more needs to be done to rein in the rapidly increasing cost of healthcare as a whole.