HELENA — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana proposes holding rates the same on individual insurance policies sold through the federal exchange for 2019 while decreasing rates by 4.9 percent for those covered under the company’s group plans.
Two other providers, PacificSource and the Montana Health Co-op, are proposing increases of between 1.8 and 10.6 percent, depending on the plan.
Pacific Source increased its rates by an average of 13.1 percent for 2018 policies while the co-op’s rates went up 16.6 percent compared to 22.3 percent for Blue Cross. Those increases were at least partly due to the loss of federal subsidies.
Insurance Commissioner Matt Rosendale announced the proposed rates Thursday and said his office will review them to make sure they’re accurate and justified. Final rates will be announced in August.