Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Makes Additional Revisions to Health Insurer Rate Filing Procedures Rule After Public Comments at Final Adoption Hearing
Dec 26, 2012
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) advised today, December 26, 2012, that changes previously proposed to Rule 69O-149.003, entitled “Rate Filing Procedures,” have been deleted after comments provided at a public hearing earlier this month on its final adoption.
Deleted were amendments to paragraph 69O-149.003(5)(a), which would have limited the use of streamlined rate increase filings to Medicare Supplement providers with fewer than 1,000 policyholders nationwide, rather than to 1,000 policyholders in Florida. The current version of the Rule now once again allows Medicare Supplement providers with fewer than 1,000 Florida policyholders to make the streamlined filings.
Subsection 69O-149.003(5) allows insurers without fully credible data to make streamlined rate increase filings with the OIR that are simpler in format and content than the full filing format defined in the Rule.
To view the Notice of Change, click here.
To view the version of Rule 69O-149.003 that was previously proposed on July 20, 2012, click here.
Pursuant to Section 627.410(6)(a), F.S., health insurers seeking to issue or renew health insurance policy forms in the State of Florida must submit documentation (rating manuals, rating schedules, change in rating manual, change in rating schedule, etc.) to the OIR in which they demonstrate that a proposed policy or policy renewal’s premium rates are reasonable in relation to the benefits provided. Rule 69O-149.003 provides insurers with detailed rate filing procedures.
Insurers that qualify and elect to file streamlined rate increase filings pursuant to Rule 69O-149.003 are limited to rate increases equal to the maximum annual medical trend for medical expense coverage or the maximum annual medical trend for Medicare Supplement coverage. The current version of subsection 69O-149.003(6) includes tables that display the applicable maximum annual medical trend. Other proposed amendments to Rule 69O-149.003 delete the aforementioned maximum annual medical trend tables from the text of the Rule and provides the URL of the OIR’s Web site on which the OIR will update the tables as needed.
The complete text of the updated proposed Rule is attached for review.
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