What You Need to Know About Increasing Health Insurance Premiums in Maine for 2024

As inflation continues to climb, it can be frustrating to see more monthly expenditures rise. In 2024, you may see an increase in your health insurance premiums. Understanding why your premiums are increasing and what you may be able to do to keep health insurance costs down is important.

How Does Inflation Affect Premiums?

Since 2020, inflation has risen drastically. Inflation can affect every aspect of our lives, including our health insurance premiums. Inflation has hit the medical industry hard since the pandemic. As the cost of medical supplies and support has risen, health insurance companies have had to pay out more in claims than before. Due to this, they need to raise their premiums in order to keep up with the rising cost of healthcare.

Increases for Small Maine Employers

Historically, small group health insurance is rated at a communal level. This means that rates are generated by three primary factors. These factors are geographical location, number of enrollees and age of enrollees. This system offers uniformity and stability when generating rates. For 2024, most small group rated businesses in Maine will be seeing health insurance percentage increases in the mid-teens to low twenties. Since these rates are communal, all claims are pooled together and the premiums are then divvied up to cover the cost of the health care for the entire group of small businesses. Since the cost of healthcare has risen, so will the premiums to cover that cost.

Increases for Large Maine Employers

Large groups in Maine are experience rated, meaning companies and organizations have the ability to utilize their own claims experience for the purpose of developing rates. The rates of large group rated companies are based on their claims experience for the previous year.  Therefore, unlike in the small group market, rate increases may differ depending on an individual company’s claims experience. Companies that have a high loss ratio, meaning they have had a lot of claims, may see a higher increase than in other years due to the increased cost of health care.

Increases for Marketplace Plans

For 2024, marketplace health insurance plans in Maine may be seeing health insurance percentage increases in the mid-teens. Much like small group rating, marketplace coverage is a communal rating system, meaning individuals and families are not rated based on their own experience, but rather based on factors like their age, geographic location, and financial status.  

How Can I Reduce My Renewal Increase?

While the rising health insurance costs are not ideal, there may be options for you or your company to reduce the increase:

• Switch to a plan with a higher deductible to lower premiums.
• Look into different types of plans, like HMO or POS plans instead of PPO plans to lower premiums.
• Ask your plan administrator about alternative coverage options, like level self-funded (Link to LSF article) plans for small businesses.

As inflation continues to affect every avenue of our lives, it is important to explore all health insurance options you may have. If you are a business or individual interested in reviewing your options for health insurance coverage, please feel free to contact our team here. 

Health Insurance Quotes

Understanding health insurance options can be difficult and confusing at times. Cross Insurance can help you explore your options when it comes to individual or group health insurance. To find out more, contact your local Cross Insurance today.

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This article is for general informational purposes only and is not to be relied upon or used for any particular purpose. Cross Insurance shall not be held responsible in any way for, and specifically disclaims any liability arising out of or in any way connected to, reliance on or use of any of the information contained in this article. The information contained or referenced in this article is not intended to constitute and should not be considered legal, insurance, accounting or other professional advice, nor shall it serve as a substitute for the recipient obtaining such advice. The views expressed in this article are that of its author and do not necessarily represent the views of Cross Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries and affiliates (“Cross Insurance”) or Cross Insurance’s management or shareholders.