Ore. regulator okays LifeWise's 13.4% small business health insurance rate hike. Affects 6,235.

DCBS:

DCBS agrees that the requested 13.4 percent annual increase is reasonable in relation to benefits provided under the policy. The increase is intended to cover the projected rise in medical claims costs and the estimated cost of implementing benefit changes due to federal healthcare reform. Benefit changes made due to implementation of federal healthcare reform include:

Removal of Lifetime Maximum Increasing dependent coverage up to age 26 Removing the waiting period for children under age 19 with pre-existing conditions The cost for the federal healthcare reform changes represents 1.04 percent of the 13.4 percent annual increase...

Over the past year, medical claims and prescription drug costs for the small employer plans offered by LifeWise increased 12.5 percent. These higher claim costs reflect increases in both the use of health care and the costs for that care.

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