[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 148 (Thursday, October 8, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S7275]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Tester, and Mr. 
        Whitehouse):
  S. 2172. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide 
protections for consumers against excessive, unjustified, or unfairly 
discriminatory increases in premium rates; to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, great progress has been made in 
improving oversight of health insurance companies, holding them 
accountable for how premium dollars are spent, and increasing access to 
affordable health insurance. Even so, there is still work to be done to 
protect consumers from unreasonable and excessive health insurance rate 
increases.
  Through the Affordable Care Act, health insurance rate increases 
greater than 10 percent must be publicly posted and include an 
explanation for the increase. The increases are reviewed by States, and 
the Federal Government steps in when States opt out from participating 
in the review process.
  This is a good first step, which has helped reduce increases, but it 
isn't enough. The enforcement authority to block or modify unreasonable 
rate increases is key to providing strong consumer protection.
  In 2011, 43 percent of requested rate increases for health insurance 
rates on the individual market were larger than 10 percent. In 2013, 25 
percent of plans had an increase greater than 10 percent.
  This shows progress, but not enough. Health insurance companies can 
still get away with putting profits before patients. Affordability of 
health insurance is vital in continuing to decrease the number of 
uninsured Americans, and to ensure that families can access coverage.
  Currently, 13 States still have little or no authority to block or 
modify excessive rate increases in the individual and small group 
markets. Even when regulators in these States find an increase to be 
unreasonable and unjustified, they have no ability to block or modify 
the increase.
  The Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Rates Act creates a 
Federal fallback option for States currently lacking this authority. 
This will protect consumers regardless of the State they live in, and 
improve accountability for insurance companies attempting to raise 
premium prices without adequate justification.
  This solution is simple: in States where the insurance regulator does 
not have or use authority to block unreasonable rate increases, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services can do so.
  In some States, like California, companies are not required to get 
prior authorization for rate increases to go into effect. California 
insurance regulators with the Department of Insurance and Department of 
Managed Care review rates, but when they find rate increases to be 
unjustified and unreasonable, they have no authority to stop or adjust 
the price increases.
  Just a few months ago, Aetna raised rates for a small business plan 
that, on average, was an increase of 21 percent and affected 
approximately 13,000 people. The California Department of Managed Care 
had found the increase to be unreasonable, but couldn't stop it from 
going into effect.
  In many States we can already see that this type of authority is 
working, and this bill doesn't interfere at all with what they are 
doing.
  For example, in New York, insurers requested an average of a 13.5 
percentage increase for 2016 premiums. Regulators disagreed and reduced 
the increase by nearly half, so consumers in that State will see a 7.1 
percent increase instead.
  In Connecticut, a UnitedHealthcare plan wanted to raise rates by 12.4 
percent for 2016. After regulators reviewed the request, they approved 
a 5.5 percent increase instead. For one plan in the State offered by 
ConnectiCare, a small increase was denied and consumers will actually 
see a reduction in their premiums for 2016.
  Regulators in Vermont reduced the increase that 65,000 residents of 
the State would have faced in 2016--the proposed hike was 8.6 percent 
and the approved rate increase was 5.9 percent.
  Any unreasonable rate increase that perpetuates year after year is 
unacceptable, and makes a big impact on a family's budget.
  All consumers deserve to have fully effective health insurance rate 
review and enforcement. This bill closes the final gap in this process 
and ensures that these protections are available for the entire 
country.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Protecting 
Consumers from Unreasonable Rates Act.
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