Hawaii: Final 2015 QHP rate increase: 7.8%; SHOP plans *drop* 3.5%

Haven't heard much news out of Hawaii of late, so this is a nice surprise:

Nov. 11--Health insurance rates for nearly 13,000 individuals will rise Jan. 1, while close to 33,000 people may be pleasantly surprised to see premium decreases.

The state Insurance Division has approved an average 9.2 percent rate hike for 9,600 individuals covered by Kaiser Permanente Hawaii and 3.8 percent increase for 3,141 members with the Hawaii Medical Service Association.

Kaiser also got the green light to drop rates by 2.8 percent for 4,800 small businesses with roughly 26,200 members at the start of the year, while HMSA received approval to cut rates by an average 6.2 percent for 6,527 individuals.

• 9.2% x (9,600 / 12,741) = 0.06931952
• 3.8% x (3,141 / 12,741) = 0.0093680245
• Add them up and you get: 0.078687545 = 7.8%

That's for the individual market. Not fantastic, but not terrible eitherl

If you look the small business rates, you get far better news...a drop of 3.5% overall:

• (-2.8%) x (26,200 / 32,727) = (-0.022415742)
• (-6.2%) x (6,527 / 32,727) = (-0.012365142)
• Add these up and you get: (-0.034780884) = (-3.5%)