Health insurance companies mostly ask for rate increases

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Most health insurance companies offering coverage through the individual market say they need to raise rates in the coming year.

That’s according to preliminary requests filed with the State Corporation Commission’s Bureau of Insurance.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports nearly early every insurer that has filed intentions to offer a plan on the Affordable Care Act’s exchange for 2019 predicts large cost increases. One plan goes up by nearly 85 percent.

The rates are subject to approval and could be altered in their final form. SCC spokesman Ken Schrad says the bureau’s review of the filings is a summer-long process that typically wraps up by the last week of August.

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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.richmond.com