Maryland O-Care rates both rise and fall

Rates on Maryland’s ObamaCare health exchange will vary greatly next year, with three insurers dropping premiums an average of 10.4 percent, while another three are set to rise 14 percent.

Maryland Insurance Commissioner Therese Goldsmith said Friday that All Savers Insurance Company, Evergreen Health Cooperative and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States will lower their premium rates approximately 6.7 percent, 10.3 percent and 14.1 percent, respectively.

{mosads}“With new companies offering plans and a number of premium rates dropping, Maryland’s individual insurance market is robust and competitive,” Goldsmith said.

CareFirst BlueChoice is set to raise their premiums 9.8 percent, while rates for CareFirst of Maryland and Group Hospitalization and Medical Services are set to rise 16.2 percent. The Maryland Insurance Commission notes those are “substantial reductions from the 22.8 percent and 30.2 percent increases those companies requested for 2015.”

Cigna and UnitedHealthCare are also set to join the exchange for the first time.

Republicans have warned premium prices would rocket up in the double-digits during the next enrollment period, but Democrats say their concerns are overblown.