Excellus requests rate increases

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield has asked New York state for permission to increase premiums on many of its community-rated health-insurance products because of rising costs.

The proposed premium adjustments would take effect Jan. 1, 2013. They come as Rochester–based Excellus projects a jump in surgery, emergency-service, lab-test, and specialty-drug expenses.

Requested premium changes differ depending on insurance type, according to Excellus, which is Central New York’s largest health insurer.

The insurer asked to increase its HealthyBlue co-pay plan premiums by between 9.9 percent and 12.9 percent. It asked to raise premiums for products like high-deductible health plans by 12.4 percent to 19.9 percent.

Excellus also requested a 3.4 percent premium decrease for products such as direct-pay health-maintenance organization (HMO) and point-of-service (POS) plans, it said. Its requests did not cover experience-rated plans, self-funded plans, or Medicare Advantage products.

“We continue to see an increased use of health-care services and higher payments for many of those medical goods and services that together are driving the increased cost for coverage,” Excellus Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing James Reed said in a news release. “We aren’t immune to national trends in health-care cost increases. “With access to new drugs, new technologies, and advancements in medical procedures, people are living longer and surviving diseases such as cancer or events such as heart attacks in greater numbers.”

New York State’s Department of Financial Services must approve changes in health-insurance rates. Excellus said it is making its requests now to give the department time to review its rates and provide businesses with a chance to budget for changes.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com