Tennessee: 2017 requested rate hikes *about* to get even uglier.

Commenter "M E" has been doing a great job of revisiting the rate hike situation in states which I originally ran the numbers on back in May and June. Earlier today he brought the revised Arizona numbers to my attention, and now he's also noted that Tennessee (which was already facing the ugliest hike requests in the nation before I revised Arizona's average) will likely see their average hike requests jump up further in the days ahead:

In an effort to prevent more insurers from abandoning the Obamacare exchange in Tennessee, the state's insurance regulator is allowing health insurers refile 2017 rate requests by Aug. 12 after Cigna and Humana said their previously requested premium hikes were too low.

Cigna and Humana filed to increase last year's premiums an average of 23 and 29 percent, respectively, on June 10. But in the interim, both insurance companies have told state regulators that the requests would not cover the expected claims, said Kevin Walters, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.

As a reminder, this is what Tennessee's individual market rate requests looked like as of mid-June:

Cigna and Humana would have to revise their requests up to 50% apiece in order for the statewide average to end up hitting the 60% threshold, but that's not exactly a vote of confidence when it's already in the 56% range to begin with.

Stay tuned...

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