The Connecticut Insurance Department approved four insurers to sell individual and small group health plans in the state exchange, Access Health CT, and in the non-exchange market -- as two other insurers withdrew bids.
Both Anthem Health Plans and HealthyCT, the state's nonprofit co-operative health plan, will be selling individual and small business policies. ConnectiCare, a subsidiary of Emblem Health's Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, will sell only individual policies, while UnitedHealth will see sell only small business plans.
In Healthy CT's individual market, the Connecticut Insurance Department reduced Anthem's annual trend from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent, and the company is also selling these plans on the open market.
ConnectiCare so far is offering the lowest-priced individual plans, before rating adjustments for age and geography -- bronze, silver and gold plans at $215, $269 and $309, respectively.
Anthem's pre-rated individual plans are priced at $236, $299 and $346 -- the highest pre-adjusted gold plan. The prices approved for HealthyCT, the co-op, are priced at $245, $310 and $321 for bronze, silver and gold.
In the small group market, the companies varied their pricing a bit more -- with United having the lowest-priced bronze plans, but the highest gold plans.
UnitedHealthcare will be selling small group plans in Connecticut for the first time on its own. In 2004, United acquired Oxford Health Insurance, which sells employer plans in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, and it relied on data from Oxford for the premium prices -- $271, $361 and $435.
HealthyCT's premiums, meanwhile, are priced at $298, $340 and $390.
The Connecticut insurance commissioner did not adjust either HealthyCT or United's rates. The department doesn't have the authority to regulate most small business indemity insurance, but it can regulate HMOs like Anthem, which merged with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut in 1997.
With an annual trend reduced, as in the individual market, from 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent, Anthem's small group plans in and out of the exchange will be priced at $277 for bronze plans, $351 for silver plans and $407 for gold.
In the exchanges, instead of four insurers selling six groups of health plans between the individual and small group markets, up until early August it was supposed to be five insurers selling eight groups of health plans, but ConnectiCare withdrew an offering of small group plans and Aetna withdrew individual plans.
Aetna is going to continue selling individual plans off the exchange in Connecticut, although that may be a dwindling market. Aetna has pulled out of individual markets and exchanges in several states recently, including California.
Both Aetna and Cigna, another Connecticut-based insurer not selling in the state exchange, said in early 2013 earnings calls that they're taking a cautious strategy to exchanges, each selling in maybe a dozen states.