For Delawareans who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and are not enrolled in health insurance through an employer, open enrollment for a variety of health insurance plans through the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) opens in November.
State Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro says this enrollment period will offer 45 plans from four different carriers — in 2022, Delawareans had just one carrier and 12 plans to choose from — and notes enrollment has increased 77% since 2021.
While three of the four carriers were approved for rate increases this year, Navarro says the insurance department works hard to make sure those increases are as reasonable as possible.
That includes approving a 12% rate increase for Aetna Health, although the carrier initially requested a 35% increase.
“Through our process, we were able to negotiate that down to a percentage in teens which is still high for many people, and I don't mean to diminish the importance or the significance of the increase, but citizens wouldn't otherwise know that we work really hard to keep them as low as possible," Navarro said.
He says rising costs are largely due to prescription drug prices and cost of care.
“People often say that health insurance is too high in Delaware. It's really the cost of care that's really high. We're fifth highest in the country for cost of care for things like, you have to go to the hospital or you need some sort of specialty care.”
The department did renew a state-based reinsurance program through 2029 that is expected to lower statewide average premiums by almost 16%.
After tax credits, health care premiums in Delaware averaged $147, a decrease of $50 per month prior to the 2024 plan year.
Open enrollment will run from Nov. 1, 2024, to Jan. 15, 2025.
