Regulators cut MVP premium increase request in half

Health care regulators said Wednesday they had decided unanimously to cut MVP Health Care’s requested increase for premiums on Vermont Health Connect almost in half.

The Green Mountain Care Board, which regulates insurance prices and hospital budgets, decided MVP could raise premiums by an average of 3.5 percent for calendar year 2018 — not the 6.7 percent the company originally requested.

MVP, which is based in New York, historically covered 10 percent of the people who use Vermont Health Connect but increased that share to 15 percent in 2017. The remainder use Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, which has requested to increase premiums an average of more than 12 percent.

To scale back MVP’s premium increase, the board made a variety of mathematical changes. One of those changes, which took 1.3 percentage points off the increase, required MVP to take into account the board’s April order directing five hospitals to limit how much they increase prices starting Oct. 1.

Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2017/08/09/regulators-cut-mvp-premium-increase-request-half/