Nevada: Preliminary avg. 2021 #ACA premiums: +6.3%; #COVID19 factor: 1.4%

As I noted last year, the Nevada Insurance Dept. website is both helpful and frustrating when it comes to tracking down the type of data that I need. On the one hand they make it very easy to view the individual & small group market rate filing summaries: Carrier names, markets, sumission dates, status, effective dates and most importantly, the proposed and approved average rate changes are all easily found.

On the other hand, they don't actually link to the filing memos or URRT forms, which means I can't find the actual effectuated enrollment numbers for each carrier, the impact of COVID-19 on each carrier's request or other noteworthy info about the filings. Oddly, they do include the SERFF tracking numbers...except that plugging those into the SERFF database still doesn't bring anything up, which kind of defeats the point.

Fortunately, the NV DOI does provide the weighted average of the entire market and COVID-19 impact elsewhere. I've also been able to piece together the total market enrollment (both on & off-exchange) using some other public data.

Via press release:

Proposed rate change averages for health insurance are available to the public for review

CARSON CITY, NV – The Nevada Division of Insurance has received and made public rate information from health insurance companies interested in participating in the individual health insurance market for Plan Year 2021 (PY21).

Consumers who shop for health insurance in the individual market, can now view new rate information for PY21 on the Nevada Division of Insurance website.

Based on the submissions the Division received for PY21, there are five insurance companies that submitted proposed rates for plans offered on the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (SSHIX), or the State Based Exchange known as Nevada Health Link. Those insurers are as follows: Health Plan of Nevada, SilverSummit, HMO Nevada, SelectHealth, and Friday Health Plan, with up to 50 individual health plans to choose from. The proposed average increase is 7.5%, which includes a COVID-19 load that makes up 1.6% of the proposed average rate increase, for health insurance plans sold On-Exchange through the  Nevada Health Link. The Exchange recently announced the Open Enrollment Period (OEP) for Plan Year 2021 will run from November 1 through January 15, 2021 – extending the traditional OEP by an additional 30 days and giving consumers a total of 75 days to enroll in a comprehensive health care plan.

For the Off-Exchange market, six insurance companies have submitted proposed rates: Health Plan of Nevada, Sierra Health & Life, SilverSummit, Hometown Health Plan, Hometown Health Providers, and SelectHealth, offering up to 61 individual health plans to choose from with an average proposed rate increase of 3.2%, which includes a COVID-19 load of 0.7%.

So the on-exchange average is 7.5% w/1.6% being COVID-related. The off-exchange average is 3.2% w/0.7% being COVID-related. A separate plan count table mentions that the overall weighted average increase requested is 6.3%, which is one of the critical numbers I need.

The only way to get a 6.3% weighted overall average is if 74% of Nevada's individual market enrollment is on-exchange & 26% is off-exchange. The recent CMS effectuated enrollment report states that 73,101 Nevadans were enrolled in on-exchange plans as of February 2020. That means that around 25,684 must be enrolled off-exchange, for a grand total of roughly 98,785 as of February 2020.

The 74/26 split also means that the overall COVID-19 impact for Nevada's indy market should be around 1.4 points of the 6.3% total.

“This year, Nevadans have more choices when it comes to their health coverage,” said Insurance Commissioner Barbara Richardson. “As always, consumers should shop for health plans not only based on price, but also taking into consideration the coverage and medical needs for themselves and/or their families. We also want to caution consumers that even though these rate increases may be lower, actual impacts on how much a consumer pays in premiums may vary from last year due to possible changes in their personal subsidies.”

The proposed rate submissions are from insurance companies who are interested in participating in the individual health insurance market. The Division is currently reviewing such requests but would also like consumer’s input on the proposed rate changes. The Division encourages consumers to review these rate changes and submit their comments through the Division’s website before rates are approved later in the month.

Additional information on proposed rate changes can be accessed by viewing a summary of the proposed rate changes or by visiting the Division’s website.

Approved rates will be posted on October 1, 2020.

Unfortunately, there's nothing in the press release to give any insight into Nevada's small group market, so I've had to settle for the rate change requests of each of the sm. group carriers. Without any enrollment specifics I have no idea what the weighted average is, but the unweighted average is 1.37%: