Maryland: Avg. 2017 indy market rate hike request revised to 28.0%

Maryland was one of the first states I ran a weighted average rate request on back in May. At the time, it looked like around a 15.0% average request for the individual market state-wide:

However, as with Arizona and Tennessee, the largest carrier in the state has since submitted revised rate requests:

BALTIMORE – Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. will be conducting a second public hearing on Monday, August 15th from 11 am – 1 pm at the Maryland Insurance Administration located at 200 St. Paul Place, 24th floor Hearing Room, Baltimore, MD 21202 to receive public input on a revised filing made by CareFirst. On July 26, CareFirst refiled its 2017 proposed rates for the individual market and requested a 27.8% rate increase for HMO plans and a 36.6% rate increase for PPO plans. CareFirst previously requested a 12.0% and 15.3% rate increase, respectively.

CareFirst actually offers 3 different types of policies; I double-checked this via the MD Insurance Dept's own Rate Review database, and confirmed that both of the PPO categories are seeking 36.6% hikes. When you plug the revised requests into the spreadsheet, the average jumps up dramatically to 28%:

As always, these are still requested increases only; they may come in somewhat lower after being reviewed by state regulators.