Washington State: Approved avg. 2022 premium rate changes: +4.2% individual market; sm. group 2.8% (updated)

Back in July, I posted a summary of Washington State's preliminary 2022 ACA premium rate change filings for the individual and small group markets. At the time, WA carriers were requesting average increases of 5.5% for the former and 4.1% for the latter. 

A few weeks back (Sept. 20th), the state insurance dept. issued their final/approved rate changes for 2022...but only for the individual market, and even then, only for carriers offering on-exchange policies. The small group filings and those for 3 of the 15 individual market carriers which only offer off-exchange policies are still pending review. However, those three only have a combined total enrollment of around 1,300 people, and the requested rate change for one of them partly cancels out the other two, so unless there's some truly eyebrow-raising changes to the final rates, I don't expect this to move the needle much:

Average 4.17% rate change approved for 2022 Exchange health insurance market

OLYMPIA, Wash. – An average 4.17% rate change has been approved for next year's Exchange health insurance market. Twelve insurers will sell plans on Washington's Exchange in 2022. Rates and plans for additional insurers selling only outside of the Exchange are still under review. 

People who do not get health insurance coverage from their employer shop for insurance in the individual market. Premium subsidies are available, based on income, through Washington's Exchange, www.wahealthplanfinder.org. The Exchange opened a Public Health Emergency Special Enrollment this past year that helped more than an additional 57,000 people get coverage when they needed it. 

"Access to meaningful and affordable health coverage has always been critical to our lives and our economy, but especially during this pandemic," said Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. "If you need health insurance, make sure to take advantage of the open enrollment coming this fall."

About 240,000 consumers in Washington are currently enrolled in health plans through the individual market. As of August 15, 78% of people enrolled through the Exchange received financial help with their premiums. The average monthly premium subsidy was $400.

This year, due to the federal American Rescue Act, Washington state received $250 million in tax credits to help people afford coverage. This money is helping over half a million people find insurance cost savings through the Exchange and will continue through next year's open enrollment.

"I'm incredibly proud of the efforts our state made to help people find coverage, through outreach and opening special enrollment periods," Kreidler said. "We took regulatory action when needed to make sure people did not have financial barriers to COVID-19 testing, did not receive surprise bills for COVID tests and increased coverage for additional methods of telehealth. I'm grateful to the health insurers, too, for their commitment to their customers and our markets."

Open enrollment for the 2022 individual health insurance market is Nov. 1 - Dec. 15, 2021, but see if you qualify for a special enrollment period. 

My weighted average is ever so slightly off from the press release (4.14% vs. 4.17%):

UPDATE 10/25/21: Just days ahead of the 2022 Open Enrollment Period launching, the WA Insurance Dept. has issued approved rate changes for the 3 off-exchange-only carriers (as well as a revised change for LifeWise, oddly). None of these move the needle more than a tiny fraction; the weighted average rate increases go from +4.21% to...4.22% overall.

The approved small group rates still haven't been posted as of this writing, however.

UPDATE 11/11/21: OK, here's the final, final update, with a very slight tweak to the individual market and approved rate changes for the small group market: