Anthem granted 5.2% rate hike
Outgoing insurance Superintendent Mila Kofman has granted Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield a 5.2% rate increase for the coming year, about half the amount the company requested.
In February, Anthem requested an average 9.7% premium rate increase for 11,000 individual policyholders, which the Bureau of Insurance deemed "excessive and unfairly discriminatory," according to the decision. The lower rate would give Anthem a risk and profit margin of 1%, a reduction from the 3% margin Anthem sought. That 3% margin would have resulted in more than $2 million for Anthem for the policy year from July 1 through June 2012. An Anthem spokesperson told the Bangor Daily News the company is reviewing the decision.
Over the past two years, Anthem has butted heads with the state's insurance superintendent over its proposed increases. In September, Kofman granted the company a 14% increase, less than its requested 23% increase for its 2010 rates. In 2009, Kofman denied Anthem an 18.1% increase, instead granting a 10.9% hike. Last month, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court dismissed Anthem's appeal of that decision.
Kofman this week announced she will resign effective July 1, citing her differences with Gov. Paul LePage's health care reform objectives.
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