As the Insurance Department held a public hearing Aug. 18 to hear responses to proposed rate increases for more than 200,000 Connecticut health insurance policy holders, Senate Democrats were among the voices decrying the rate hikes.
Insurers in Connecticut submitted rate proposals for individual and small group insurance – plans accessible through the Affordable Care Act – that would increase costs by an average of 17.8% and 13.1% on those plans, respectively.
Compared to 2024, rate proposals are much higher. Last year saw average proposed increases of 8.3% on individual plans and 11.9% on small group plans. After opposition from the public, those increases were reduced to 5.9% and 7.8% by the Insurance Department, according to the Connecticut Mirror.
The Insurance Department public hearing drew a number of residents who thought these proposed increases were far too high. News 12 reported that Deb Dauphinais, a bicycle shop owner in Glastonbury, said the insurance companies are “insatiably greedy” while “much of their customer base struggles financially.”
Another individual, Tonya Maurer from Hebron, said her monthly health insurance costs are $2,309 per month.
Sen. Jorge Cabrera, the Senate chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, echoed concerns about residents’ health insurance costs.
“Health insurance premiums for the working-class and small businesses have become the new electric rate shock,” he said in a statement. “It’s that bad.”
Cabrera added that the rate hikes are just one problem; the federal budget praised by the Trump administration will kill health care premium assistance for more than 100,000 state residents, he said.
In a letter addressed to Insurance Commissioner Andrew Mais, Sen. Saud Anwar, Senate chair of the Public Health Committee, added that the rate requests come amid increasing financial pressure among the public, which will harm businesses and individuals amid health care workforce shortages and other increasing pressures.
Anwar said that insurers have submitted incomplete or vague applications in past years, and with the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce Medicaid funding and the end of federal subsidies, the rate hikes become increasingly unaffordable with dire long-term consequences.
