Rate Increase For Private Family Health Insurance Plans

Family Health Insurance A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers on Wednesday proposed four bills that would block private health insurers from significantly raising rates during policy renewals, the Detroit Free Press reports Family Health Insurance.

The legislation also would relax a requirement that the not-for-profit, Family Health Insurance tax-exempt insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan receive approval from the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Services to increase rates.

BCBS is Michigan’s insurer of last resort, and it receives $80 million in state tax breaks for the designation, according to the Free Press. Mark Cook, Family Health Insurance vice president of government affairs at BCBS, said that private insurers cherry-pick 25-year-olds and then jack up the rates Family Health Insurance if the policyholder develops a health condition. He claims BCBS ends up with more expensive policyholders and loses money as a result.