On August 2, Governor Tony Evers announced premium rates in Wisconsin’s individual health insurance market will decrease an average of 3.2% from 2019 rates. This is the second consecutive year rates have declined, following a decrease of 4.2% for 2019.
This encouraging downward trend is largely credited to the bipartisan Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan (WIHSP), which had strong WHA support and passed the Legislature in spring 2018. The program was fully funded in the recently enacted state budget. The WIHSP creates a reinsurance pool that will cover a portion of high-cost claims in the individual market. WHA strongly
advocated for the WIHSP to ensure affordability and stability in the individual insurance market.
“Rising premiums threaten access to affordable health insurance and erode the impressive gains Wisconsin has made over the past several years in reducing the number of uninsured,” said Eric Borgerding, WHA President and CEO. “Wisconsin’s Health Care Stability Plan has represented a crucial, bipartisan step in protecting access to Wisconsin’s top-ranked health care.”
Actuarial analysis from the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance projected premiums would have increased 9% for 2020 in the absence of the reinsurance program. Prior to the implementation of the WISHP, the Wisconsin individual market was experiencing double-digit premium increases and reduced competition from insurers.
For more information on this topic, contact WHA’s Vice President of Public Policy
Lisa Ellinger.