Iowa approves rate increases for three insurers

Iowa and other states could see significant jumps in insurance rates for 2017, three years in to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

On Monday, the Iowa Insurance Division approved increases for three insurers operating in Iowa:

l 37.8 percent for Des Moines-based Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa

l 22.58 percent for Aetna Health of Iowa

l 19 percent Medica Insurance, which plans to sell in Linn and Johnson counties.

'Whether to approve the rate increase is not a decision the (Iowa Insurance) Commissioner has taken lightly,” Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart wrote in separate statement that accompanied the announcements. 'Many Iowans will be impacted by this decision. Balancing the needs of Iowa consumers and the solvency of an insurance carrier must be weighed carefully.”

The decisions have been forwarded to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for final approvals, Gerhart said.

In Pennsylvania, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield has asked for an increase of more than 40 percent, and a trio of insurance carriers are seeking boosts of more than 30 percent in Wisconsin, according to a story last week by the online site Politico. In Indiana, Anthem, based in that state, hopes to increase its rates by as much as 36 percent.

Insurers' requested rate increases for 2017 nationwide are bigger than they were in the first three years of the ACA's marketplaces, Politico said.

Insurance companies told the Kaiser Family Foundation that enrollees are sicker than first anticipated back when rates were set. That has led to the need for higher rates.

While United Health Group announced earlier this year it would withdraw from all but a handful of the 34 states - including Iowa - in which it operated, Wellmark announced in May it would enter the Iowa exchange for next year.