Michigan

Michigan

Back in June (updated in July), I posted an analysis of the preliminary 2024 rate filings for Michigan's individual & small group market carriers. At the time, there wasn't anything terribly interesting going on in my home state other than Humana and McLaren pulling out of the small group market (Humana is doing this nationally). Overall 2024 rate increases averaged 5.6% and 7.1% on the indy and small group markets respectively.

Yesterday, however, the Michigan Dept. of Insurance & Financial Services posted the final/approved rate filings for 2024, and while there were only a couple of very minor tweaks to most of the preliminary requests, there's one important change: US Health & Life Insurance Co. is no longer going to be on the Michigan individual market at all:

Michigan

via the Michigan Dept. of Insurance & Financial Services:

Open Enrollment for 2024 health insurance runs from November 1, 2023 through January 15, 2024

(LANSING, MICH) Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) Director Anita Fox are kicking off the annual Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment period by reminding Michiganders that they may qualify for low- and no-cost coverage and free local assistance is available to help them get the insurance coverage they need. Open enrollment begins today and runs through January 15, 2024.  For 2023, qualified enrollees, on average, saved more than $400 a month.

Michigan

Last month I noted that Michigan legislative Democrats were planning on passing a package of bills designed to repeal a bunch of restrictions on abortion & other reproductive healthcare:

Via Paul Egan of the Detroit Free Press:

Dems to end 24-hour abortion waiting period, ban on Medicaid funding of procedure

LANSING — Michigan Democrats said Wednesday they will repeal laws that require a 24-hour waiting period to have an abortion performed, impose what they say are costly and unnecessary regulatory burdens on abortion clinics, prohibit abortions funded by Medicaid, and ban private health insurers from automatically covering abortions under standard policies.

Michigan

Back in February, I posted an updated & overhauled version of my Michigan healthcare legislative wish list for the newly-elected Democratic majorities in my home states House and Senate.

The list includes 9 major items (some of which actually include a lot more than one provision within them). It really should include ten, since I forgot about implementing a Basic Health Plan program like New York and Minnesota have (and as Oregon is ramping up to do soon as well), but it's still a pretty full plate.

The second and third items on the list included:

Michigan

Last Tuesday I noted that a package of bills designed to codify various ACA protections into state law here in Michigan (most of which are low-hanging fruit of my own healthcare wish list which I posted back in February) had managed to make it halfway through the legislative process: Five of them have passed the Michigan House, but not the Senate; the other three have passed the Michigan Senate...but not the House. I applauded the state legislature for pushing these bills halfway through and encouraged them to get the other half of the job done.

I was therefore highly amused and pleased to see MI Governor Gretchen Whitmer call for doing that the very next day in her "What's Next" address:

Michigan

Back in February, I posted an updated & overhauled version of my Michigan healthcare legislative wish list for the newly-elected Democratic majorities in my home states House and Senate.

The list includes 9 major items (some of which actually include a lot more than one provision within them). It really should include ten, since I forgot about implementing a Basic Health Plan program like New York and Minnesota have (and as Oregon is ramping up to do soon as well), but it's still a pretty full plate.

The second and third items on the list included:

Michigan

via the Michigan Dept. of Insurance & Financial Services:

(LANSING, MICH) The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) is reminding consumers that they have the right to appeal a denial of a health insurance claim to DIFS after attempting resolution through the insurer’s appeal process. To assist Michiganders with these appeals, the state has launched a newly updated consumer website that offers more information and answers to frequently asked questions.

Michigan

Back in February, I posted an updated & overhauled version of my Michigan healthcare legislative wish list for the newly-elected Democratic majorities in my home states House and Senate.

The list includes 9 major items (some of which actually include a lot more than one provision within them). It really should include ten, since I forgot about implementing a Basic Health Plan program like New York and Minnesota have (and as Oregon is ramping up to do soon as well), but it's still a pretty full plate.

The second and third items on the list include:

Michigan

7/10/23: See update below

The Michigan Dept. of Financial Services hasn't issued any press release yet, but nearly all 2024 preliminary rate filings for the MI individual and small group markets are available via the SERFF database.

The only one missing as of today is UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, Inc.; they have most of their 2024 forms on record but there's no Actuarial Memo or URRT form included for the individual market, so I can't seem to find their actual requested rate changes or their enrollment as of March 2023.

In any event, I'm not seeing anything too odd here. Unlike other states with preliminary filings so far this year, Michigan carriers are seeking a fairly reasonable 5.6% average rate hike on the individual market and 7.0% for the small group market.

It's worth noting that two of the three indy market carriers asking for double-digit rate hikes (Alliance and HAP) both only offer off-exchange policies. The third, MacLaren, is also pulling out of the small group market entirely. It's also possible that Humana is dropping out of the small group market, although I'm not sure about that one.

Michigan

via Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's website:

May 09, 2023

To: State Department Directors and Autonomous Agency Heads

From: Governor Gretchen Whitmer

The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, required Medicaid programs to keep participants continuously enrolled and provided additional federal funding to do so.  In December 2022, Congress passed a law ending the continuous enrollment and winding down the associated federal funding.  As a result, more than 3 million Michiganders will need to undergo redeterminations for Medicaid coverage or find alternative health insurance if they no longer qualify.

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