SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Regulators have approved the largest health insurance premium increase in the four-year history of New Mexico's subsidized exchange, state Insurance Superintendent John Franchini said Wednesday.
The state's top insurance regulator said record-setting rate increases in 2018 are heavily influenced by uncertainty about whether the federal government will block or discontinue subsidies to insurers. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to halt cost-sharing payments to insurance companies in his drive to dismember President Barack Obama's health care law.
About 55,000 New Mexico residents sign up each year for federally subsidized insurance through the state's exchange, known as beWellnm.
Average premium increases for 2018 will range from 36 percent to 41 percent for mid-level insurance coverage, according to an analysis by the Office of the Superintendent of Insurance.
"This is the largest increase in the last four years," Franchini said. "Our actuaries — who are very, very conservative — have reviewed this and they don't see any excess profit in these increases."
He noted that New Mexico remains among the 10 states with the lowest premiums in the country, and emphasized that consumers should compare their current insurance policy with offerings from other companies on the exchange to conserve spending.
Rising rates among New Mexico's four marketplace insurance providers appear to be outpacing the national average for individually purchased health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office this month estimated average individually purchased premiums nationwide will grow by about 15 percent next year, in large part because of market nervousness over actions Trump might take.
About 60 percent of people who buy insurance through the New Mexico exchange qualify for subsidies that reduce costs.
"I feel sorry for the other 40 percent though," Franchini said. "Forty percent have to pay the full brunt of the rate increases."
The full range of premium increases runs from 17 percent to just over 49 percent.
The superintendent also said rates are rising because not enough people are buying insurance through New Mexico's federally subsidized marketplace.
The Congressional Budget Office expects more people nationwide will buy coverage through government-operated insurance exchanges in 2018, despite rising premiums and steps by the Trump administration such as cutting outreach programs.
Widespread enrollment in low- or zero-premium Medicaid health care throughout New Mexico accounts for limited use of the state health exchange.