oregon insurance division

Oregon Insurers Propose Rates for 2014 Health Plans

Charts show sample rate requests for Oregon counties
May 9, 2013 – The Oregon Insurance Division today posted health insurers’ rate requests for small employer and individual health plans that start Jan. 1, 2014. The plans reflect new benefits and new rules under the federal Affordable Care Act. Read More >>

Regence and Health Net Take Different Approach to Exchange

The health insurers that want to participate in Cover Oregon next year have until next Tuesday to file their proposed rates and benefit plans with the Insurance Division
April 26, 2013 -- Oregon’s health insurance exchange is about to take a decisive step forward next Tuesday. That’s when health insurers must file their proposed rates for individual and small group coverage with the Insurance Division. Those rates will be made public May 10, and public hearings have already been scheduled starting in late May.  Read More >>

OSPIRG Report Calls on Insurers to Do More to Control Costs

The new report says 2009 insurance reforms have resulted in $80 million savings, but says health insurers are still not being held fully accountable for their hyper-inflated rate increases.
April 19, 2013 — The Oregon State Public Interest Research Group Foundation has released a major report on Oregon’s health insurance rate review policy, finding that the Insurance Division has reduced $80 million in healthcare waste after the division’s prior approval process was strengthened by the Legislature in 2009. Read More >>

Health Committee Approves Bill to Offset 2014 Premium Hikes

A closed-door task force crafted HB 3458, the Oregon Reinsurance Program, after a consultant reported insurance premiums on the individual market would climb 38% next year. The program assesses insurers $4 per policy per month, a decline from current state assessments.
  April 4, 2013 — The House Health Committee has unanimously passed major reinsurance legislation, designed to offset the spike in premium rates next year when insurers are required to accept thousands of sick people who had previously been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
 
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Oregon House Votes to Include Insurers in Consumer Fraud Act

Sen. Chip Shields told The Lund Report he expects the Senate to pass the measure, which would remove the unique exception insurance companies such as Regence BlueCross BlueShield have from the Unlawful Trade Practices Act.
April 3, 2013 — Seven years ago, Regence BlueCross BlueShield blithely declared that Azusa Suzuki was dead and refused to honor a supplemental insurance claim after she was injured in a car accident. Read More >>

Insurance Division Lowers Requirements for Health Insurance Sold Outside Cover Oregon

At the request of Regence BlueCross BlueShield and Lifewise, the state will require a silver plan, but not a gold plan to sell health insurance outside the exchange. All insurers selling health plans in Cover Oregon must still offer a gold plan.
March 29, 2013 — Oregon’s Insurance Division changed a requirement that all insurers offering plans outside the Cover Oregon exchange next year offer a gold-level plan following a request from insurers such as Regence BlueCross BlueShield and Lifewise Health Plan. Read More >>

Oregon’s Insurance Commissioner Speaks Out About Regence BlueCross BlueShield

The decision by Providence to sever its contract with HealthNet could also pique his attention if HealthNet loses a significant number of members to its competitor
October 3, 2012 -- Regence BlueCross BlueShield could find itself on the hot seat again. This time actuaries from inside the Oregon Insurance Division are in the midst of conducting an in-depth financial review at Regence’s headquarters in downtown Portland -– looking for any irregularities and whether the insurer has the financial stability to meet the needs of its policyholders. Read More >>

Regence Policyholders Face More Than an 8.9 Percent Rate Hike

About 30,000 policyholders will also see much higher deductibles, and lose mental health coverage and pay more for their prescriptions
August 30, 2012 – The 52,000 Oregonians who purchase their own insurance coverage from Regence BlueCross BlueShield face a double whammy come December 1. Not only will they see their premiums increase – on average – by 8.9 percent, but the majority of people will even face steeper costs -- a $2,500 deductible – fewer choices of physicians and hospitals in the Portland area (an actual reduction of 80 percent) and their health plan will no longer cover mental health services or routine eye exams. Read More >>

Regence Refuses to Publicly Share Information on Rate Hike

Meanwhile the Oregon Insurance Division has approved a 12.2 percent rate increase for people who purchase their own coverage through Providence Health Plan
August 24, 2012 – A proposed 9.6 percent rate increase by Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon looks like it will be decided behind closed doors. That increase would impact nearly 53,000 Oregonians who purchase their own coverage starting in December. Read More >>

Upcoming Health Insurance Rate Hearings Involving Regence/ Providence

July 25, 2012 -- The Oregon Insurance Division will hold two public hearings next week on health insurance rate requests. Read More >>
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