SEN. CABRERA REACTS TO INSURANCE COMPANY FILINGS FOR HIGHER PREMIUMS ON A QUARTER-MILLION CONNECTICUT RESIDENTS

HARTFORD – State Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden), who is Senate Chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, issued the following statement today in reaction to the new, proposed health insurance premium rate hikes from Anthem Health Plans, CTCare Benefits Inc., Oxford Health Plans/Insurance Inc., and UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. that seek to raise premiums on 224,000 Connecticut residents by 5.9% to 26.1%.

The rate hikes affect Connecticut residents who are enrolled in one of the state-regulated Access Health CT health care plans created by Democrats and President Barack Obama under a law known as the Affordable Care Act; the proposed rate hikes do NOT affect most private-sector insurance that is controlled by federal ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) laws.

“We’ve come to the point now – especially with the damage being inflicted by Donald Trump and Washington Republicans – that health insurance premiums for the working-class and small businesses have become the new electric rate shock. It’s that bad. We’ve got thousands of people in every town and city in Connecticut, in every House and Senate district, Democrat and Republican, who are ultimately going to see a rate hike of some sort.

“The largest single group of individuals buying coverage on Connecticut’s health insurance exchange – about a third – are folks ages 55 to 64. Then there’s another 70,000 or so who work at small businesses. They all make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, and they’re not old enough for Medicare. These are moderate-income, working-class Connecticut residents who are about to get blasted.

“But the proposed rate hikes from Anthem, Oxford, United and others aren’t even the bad news. The real bad news is that Trump and Republicans have just killed an average $1,700 in federal health care premium assistance for about 140,000 Connecticut residents on the exchange. For a family of three, that’s about half a month’s income. At the same time, Trump and Republicans have changed Medicaid requirements that will force an unknow number of people off of Medicaid and possibly onto the state health insurance exchange. Or maybe they just won’t have any health insurance at all.

“Either way, brace yourself for a lot more people paying higher health insurance premiums because of corporate greed and damaging Republican health care policies – all to give millionaires a tax break while the middle class bleeds. This is the grim, grim reality of Donald Trump’s America. And I don’t see how the State of Connecticut can make up a multi, multi-million dollar loss like this.”