Washington approved insurance rate increase

Washington’s insurance commissioner announced Wednesday that his office has approved a 10.7% rate increase for those residents who obtain insurance through the state’s exchange.

The office of Mike Kreidler, the insurance commissioner, announced that the changes that will take effect for the Washington 2025 Exchange health insurance market.

“I know this rate increase will hit hard for many people, especially at a time when other expenses are up,” Kreidler said in a news release. “A key driver behind these rates is the increase in services used and the cost to deliver that care.”

Kreidler pointed out that the 10.7% increase was slightly lower than the 11.3% increase that the insurance companies requested.

“Addressing the underlying costs of health care will require some difficult choices, but consumers and our health care system cannot afford to wait,” he said in the release.

He noted that his office delivered a report to the state Legislature last month about how policy changes could impact health care and insurance costs.

“I’m hopeful the Legislature will use this data to work toward meaningful, concrete changes in our health care system,” he said. “These costs will not decrease if we don’t act now.”

The rate increase for 2025 is part of the annual process by which the Office of Insurance Commissioner reviews proposed insurance company rates and the basis for any increase or decrease. If the request is determined to be justified, state law requires the office to approve it.

How residents pay for insurance depends on their income, the plan they select, the number of people covered, their age, whether they smoke and where they live, according to the release.

Those workers who do not get health insurance from their employers are left to shop for health plans in the individual market.

As of July 2024, the state had about 259,454 people who were enrolled in health plans through the individual market, with 232,713 residents enrolled through the state’s exchange.

The lowest rate increase, of only 5.7%, will come for 41,454 people enrolled by Molina Health Care of Washington, Inc.

One of the highest rate increases will come for the 28,361 persons insured by Regence BlueShield. They will see a 22.8% increase.