Blumenthal Calls for Rejection of Proposed Unaffordable, Unjustifiable Insurance Rate Hikes

[Hartford, CT] — Today, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) called for the Connecticut Insurance Department to summarily reject proposed insurance rate increases — which would raise rates by an average of 24% for Connecticut consumers.

Blumenthal submitted written comments to the Connecticut Insurance Department today, urging the department to reject the anti-consumer and unconscionable rate increases.

“These rate increases are not just about numbers – they deeply affect tens of thousands of families across the state. As consumers struggle with rising prices, any premium increase is unacceptable. Zero is the only right answer,” Sen. Blumenthal said in his written comments.

In his comments, Blumenthal stressed that the Insurance Department must take the side of hard-working, financially stressed consumers. Insurance companies have reported record profits in the last year. Last year, Anthem reported net earnings in one quarter of $1.7 billion. Oxford Health, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, was the most profitable health insurer in 2021 according to the publication FierceHealthcare, and recorded more than double the profit of its next-closest competitor with $17.3 billion in earnings.

“The Insurance Department must carefully scrutinize and critically challenge ALL projected rate increases and their underlying assumptions and require dramatic reductions in the requested increases,” Blumenthal wrote. “Equally important, the Department should also challenge what steps insurers are doing to contain costs. Many insurers cite rising prescription drug costs as one of the reasons for increasing rates.”  

The full text of Blumenthal’s comments can be found here.

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