District of Columbia: *Approved* avg. 2021 ACA rate change: +0.2%; -0.5% for sm. group

OK, right after saying I was putting a lid on my 2021 Rate Change project, I'm slipping in one more: The District of Columbia posted their approved rate changes a few weeks back:

Information About Approved Rates for January 2021 Health Plan Offerings on DC Health Link

Open Enrollment for Plan Year 2021 DC Health Link’s open enrollment begins November 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021. DC Health Link is an online marketplace created for individuals, families, and small business owners in the District of Columbia to shop, compare, and select health insurance that meets their health needs and budgets. For more information, visit dchealthlink.com or call (855) 532-5465.

This page contains approved health plan rate information for the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace, DC Health Link, for plan year 2021.

The District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB) received 188 proposed health insurance plan rates for review from Aetna, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente and United Healthcare in advance of open enrollment for plan year 2021 on DC Health Link, the District of Columbia’s health insurance marketplace.

The average increase in 2021 premiums across all health insurers is 0.2 percent for individuals and an overall decrease of 0.5 percent for small group coverage. This will save District residents over $17 million.

Aetna, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare—the same four major insurance companies as last year—will have plans on DC Health Link. CareFirst and Kaiser Permanente plans cover individuals, families and small businesses for the 2021 plan year. Aetna and UnitedHealthcare plans are only available in the small business market. Overall, 188 plans were filed, up from 181 last year. Small group plans increased by seven to 163, and individual plans stay the same at 25.

For all the links and information provided, they actually make it difficult to pin down the weighted average change for each carrier, since the PDFs break it out by metal level, etc. I was able to get ahold of the overall average for the individual market but gave up on the small group plans. In any event, here's what it looks like...that dramatic 14.7% increase asked for by CareFirst BlueChoice was hacked down to nearly nothing; the other two indy market carriers didn't change much: