Wisconsin consumers in the Affordable Care Act’s federally facilitated health insurance exchange will see an average premium increase of 15.9%, although some could see increases as high as 31%, according to a release from the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.
The state OCI has concerns about the federal government’s “auto-re-enrollment” policy, which allows the federal government to assign a new health insurer if a person’s current health insurer exits the market, such as Arise Health Plan, Humana, and United Healthcare announced earlier this year. In those cases, the feds would transfer a consumer’s personal and financial information to the new insurer without the consumer’s consent.
“We believe the ACA’s new auto re-enrollment ignores centuries of contract law, is a violation of numerous Wisconsin consumer protection laws, and, most importantly, is harmful to Wisconsin consumers,” Commissioner Ted Nickel states. “Despite our concerns, the federal government is still moving forward with auto-enrollment.” The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services now offers a way for consumers to opt-out, but they must do so by Dec. 15.
The OCI encourages consumers to shop for different plans during the open enrollment period, Nov. 1, 2016 through Jan. 31, 2017.
