2007 Law Leads to First-Ever Review of Insurance Rate Increase
Oregon House Democrats said today that legislation passed last session helped pave the way for the first-ever regulatory review hearing on skyrocketing individual insurance rates for health care plans in Oregon.
Yesterday, a request for review was filed by an individual facing a 26% increase in insurance premiums from Regence. Now, according to DCBS, a hearing will be scheduled to determine if the rate increase is justified. Another Oregon insurance company, Lifewise, also recently raised rates 28% on individual policies.
In 2007, State Rep. Representative Nancy Nathanson (D- Eugene) passed HB 3103 to give the public more opportunities to weigh in about proposed insurance rate increases by requiring insurance company rate increase requests to be publicly posted by DCBS, the state agency regulating insurance companies.