Small Group Rates Approved for Md. Health Connection
BALTIMORE – Maryland Insurance Commissioner Therese M. Goldsmith today approved health insurance policies and premium rates for plans to be sold through Maryland’s Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchange. Thirteen carriers filed to sell health benefit plans in the small group market through Maryland’s new health benefit exchange, Maryland Health Connection. They are:
-- Aetna Health Inc.;
-- Aetna Life Insurance Co.;
-- CareFirst BlueChoice Inc.;
-- CareFirst of Maryland Inc.;
-- Coventry Health and Life Co.;
-- Coventry Health Care of Delaware Inc.;
-- Evergreen Health Cooperative;
-- Group Hospitalization and Medical Services Inc.;
-- Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic;
-- MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Co.;
-- Optimum Choice Inc.;
-- UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co.; and
-- UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic Inc.
“These approved premium rates compare favorably to many of the 2014 premium rates approved for small employer health plans in other parts of the country,” said Commissioner Goldsmith. For example, the monthly premium for a 40-year-old, non-smoker opting for a silver plan (one that pays approximately 70 percent of the cost of covered services) ranges from $208 to $435 in Maryland, depending on the insurance carrier. In New York, that same person would pay premiums between $291 and $568. In Oregon, the person’s premiums would fall between $260 and $518.
The premium rates approved for 2014 range from 4.9 percent lower to 14.6 percent higher than existing rates for the carriers’ small group products. “These changes in rates are consistent with the year-over-year changes we have seen in Maryland’s small group market in 2012 and 2013,” Commissioner Goldsmith said.
In 2014, small businesses purchasing plans through Maryland Health Connection may be eligible for federal tax credits that will lower premium costs. Enrollment in the SHOP exchange opens January 1, 2014, for businesses with two to 50 full-time equivalent employees. Coverage begins on or after March 1, 2014.
To view summaries of the rate review decisions, visit the Maryland Insurance Administration’s website and click on Approved Rates for Maryland Health Connection.
