Excellus Health Plan, Inc. Small Group 2019 Public Comments€¦ · As a small business owner , we...

Excellus Health Plan, Inc.Small Group2019 Public Comments

Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield should not be granted a rate increase for 2019. There are clear, obvious, evident, low-hanging-fruit ways that the insurer can increase efficiency and reduce costs that do not involve passing costs on to the insured community. Please consider making increased efficiency demands on them before granting them a rate hike. Very sincerely,

It amazes me that an already expensive BASIC/MINIMAL insurance costs me more than I bring home in a week. I am healthy, my spouse has minimal health issues. Now, there is a request for a 7.2% increase! I will be lucky if I get a 3% raise. This is frustrating beyond belief. The Company gets to tell me what doctor, what medicine and even if I can have medicine or care at all...and I get to pay them way more than the service is worth. RIDICULOUS. Please do not approve an increase for more than the average worker will get in an increase in wages. This is patently wrong and greedy.

It is way past time that the government starts saying no more increases. Get in line with every other business out there (other than education) and figure out what needs to be done to hold the line. We would be out of business in three years with annual increases of nominally 10% a year like the healthcare industry! Not only do I have to figure out how to hold my prices, but I have to maintain the same quality and service levels - I cannot cut anything out of what I sell my customer to achieve the same price. At the same time I have to learn how to do more with less, work my suppliers to maintain their prices and find ways to continue to increase our efficiencies. As I stated, it is way past time for both our government (state and federal) and the healthcare industry figure out how to hold the spending rate where it is without compromising the care level. Come join us in the real world where we have to compete to survive. New York State is one of the toughest places to have a business, maybe you could work on making that a little better for us by making a serious effort on cost containment.

I understand that costs go up, but insurance premiums go up higher and faster than income does. I think rate increases need to be held to an absolute minimum and that the insurance company needs to work harder at keeping their internal costs down.

I do not feel that the premiums for this insurance plan should be raised again. I know for a fact that since the inception of this plan the premium has increased an obscene percentage. It is time that someone stops insurance companies from taking advantage of their subscribers every year.

I don't agree with an increase of 8%. Normal cost of living increases are 2%! Medical Insurance companies have gotten out of hand with the premiums and have decreased what they will reimburse causing the patients to either go into debt for medical help or ignore the problem too long which makes the illness that more complicated.


As a small business owner , we are struggling to pay our health insurance premiums now. We currently pay some employees insurance in full and some we pay 1/2 the cost, an 8% increase will financially hurt our business and employees. Every year the increases are 3 times more than the cost of inflation . If I could increase our labor rates, the way health insurance increases theirs we'd be able to pay all our employees insurance @ 100 %. We are only paid prevailing rates as an , bicycle repair shops get a higher labor rate than we are able to charge. This current proposal of an 8 % increase will make us reconsider our benefits to our employees. We simply can not keep up with health insurance companies premiums.

I have a 750 deductible pay almost all the premium myself I know you don't care but everytime the rate goes up I go further in debt I am paying for insurance that I cant even afford to use with deductible going up and premiums also , I don't qualify for any help from the government and im just above the help line and you keep expecting me to pay for all the people that do not pay anything into insurance why not have them pay even if it is a 5 dollar premium any low income person can pay this and that would make up the increase you keep putting on me where I can not even afford to go to doctor to pay deductible screw the middle class again if there is such a thing as middle class. I know this letter will do no good but I needed to vent as you just increased me last year

Please do not approve this 8% increase. Insurance costs are already insane, I'm paying over $900/month already in 2018. If my employer wasn't paying for mine, it would be $1200/month before the increase for me, my wife and young child.

I feel strongly that these increases are unfair, unreasonable, and are not justified. Every year our premiums are increased and our deductibles go higher and higher without reason.

Rate increase after rate increase. It is time to stop allowing rate increases and make the insurance companies find better ways to deliver healthcare. I am facing a 3.7% increase. I will not receive a pay raise to balance this out.

I am writing to complain about the proposed rate increase for the simplyblue Plus Bronze 4 plan. The deductible is $6550.00 for a single and $13,100 for family. For a single person they pay $4,821.96 in premiums per year their deductible is $6550.00 THEY would have to pay out $ 16,193.92 BEFORE Excellus has to cover. For a family it is $26,842.40!!!! It is very rare that happens. SO its all profit for Excellus. PLEASE do not give them this rate increase. Please make a stand and do not give them ANY increase at all!!


I am submitting this comment due to the fact that I have a high deductible insurance and my understanding is that people rarely make it past the deductible in the SimplyBlue Plus Bronze 4 plan. So if people are not making it up to or past the deductible than the insurance company is not spending any money on claims and just accepting money on policy premiums. This does not set right with me as a consumer. I am required to have this policy and even though I have not used it I am going to see an increase in my premiums. This needs to stop.

The 8.9% increase for 2019 comes on the heels of much larger increases every year before. The effect on me and our business in wage suppression. Our wages, adjusted for inflation, have not increased in years as what could be wages, ends up having to pay for healthcare. How about limiting executive bonuses at Excellus, instead of stagnating wages for every day New Yorker's. Please help, we are getting crushed year after year.

I believe an 8.9% rate increase for an already relatively useless, high-deductible plan is too much. The purpose of a high-deductible plan is to contain cost increases by pushing more of the cost to the user. 8.9% doesn't feel like 'cost containment' in any rational sense of the term.

We pay $1654.00/month for our health insurance. I do understand that this gives us choice to use doctors outside of NY, however, my son needs to see a doctor in 1 time a year (from an insurance claim perspective it is not an expensive visit). We need to figure out a better way to have the insurance not cost more than a mortgage.

In June of 2018 I received a notice from Excellus informing me of their request to the NYS DFS for a 2019 premium increase to my health insurance. I am currently a subscriber and work for a agency that has a provider relationship with Excellus. In their rate increase explanation Excellus states, “The cost of health care services, equipment and products continues to be the primary reason for rate increases.” I would like to inform you that my employer has not received a rate increase from Excellus since 2016. However, the premium cost for the health insurance increased on average 8% in 2018 and will increase an additional average of 4% (proposed) in 2019. It is impossible for subscribers and employers to keep absorbing the increases especially when provider rates are not increased. Additionally, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield nearly doubled its profits in 2017 and gave its top executive a 13 percent pay raise according to a February 2018 article in Syracuse.com. This same article when on to state, “Excellus made more money than expected because of lower than anticipated medical expenses, favorable investment income and efficient administrative expenses, the company said in a prepared statement”, which is the exact opposite of the rationale for the proposed rate increase. I am requesting that you carefully review Excellus’ request in light of the information I have provided. Health Insurance is getting out of hand and something needs to be done. Every year there is a sizable increase.


It is impossible for subscribers and employers to keep absorbing the increases especially when provider rates are not increased. Additionally, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield nearly doubled its profits in 2017 and gave its top executive a 13 percent pay raise according to a February 2018 article in Syracuse.com. This same article when on to state, “Excellus made more money than expected because of lower than anticipated medical expenses, favorable investment income and efficient administrative expenses, the company said in a prepared statement”, which is the exact opposite of the rationale for the proposed rate increase. I am requesting that you carefully review Excellus’ request in light of the information I have provided. This is second consecutive year that I have written regarding rate increases. At this point I have to imagine that the exorbitant medicals insurance rates are a result of New York State. It has becoming nearly impossible to survive in this state.

It is impossible for subscribers and employers to keep absorbing the increases especially when provider rates are not increased. Additionally, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield nearly doubled its profits in 2017 and gave its top executive a 13 percent pay raise according to a February 2018 article in Syracuse.com. This same article when on to state, “Excellus made more money than expected because of lower than anticipated medical expenses, favorable investment income and efficient administrative expenses, the company said in a prepared statement”, which is the exact opposite of the rationale for the proposed rate increase. I am requesting that you carefully review Excellus’ request in light of the information I have provided.

In June of 2018 I received a notice from Excellus informing me of their request to the NYS DFS for a 2019 premium increase to my health insurance. I am currently a subscriber and work for a agency that has a provider relationship with Excellus. In their rate increase explanation Excellus states, “The cost of health care services, equipment and products continues to be the primary reason for rate increases.” I would like to inform you that my employer has not received a rate increase from Excellus since 2016. However, the premium cost for the health insurance increased on average 8% in 2018 and will increase an additional average of 4% (proposed) in 2019. It is impossible for subscribers and employers to keep absorbing the increases especially when provider rates are not increased. Additionally, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield nearly doubled its profits in 2017 and gave its top executive a 13 percent pay raise according to a February 2018 article in Syracuse.com. This same article when on to state, “Excellus made more money than expected because of lower than anticipated medical expenses, favorable investment income and efficient administrative expenses, the company said in a prepared statement”, which is the exact opposite of the rationale for the proposed rate increase. I am requesting that you carefully review Excellus’ request in light of the information I have provided.



I already pay $9300 a year for health insurance for TWO people. This will raise my rate to almost $10K per year, which is outrageous. How can rates keep going up, year after year?

I cannot understand why this company continually asks for increases that far exceed any known inflation rates. The increase is based on projected data. We really need to look no further than the fact that Excellus has reserves in excess of $1.2 billion and over-compensates its executives at the expense of members like us. The annual profit of approximately $100 million is more than enough to provide for future benefits.

On June 8th the business I work for in received notice that the premium rates would be increasing by a proposed 8.9%. We were given a paper that was dated May 2018. Any comments are now due by June 14th. We were suppose to have 30 days to comment because ultimately DFS takes into consideration our comments before approving the rate change. I feel that this has been a sneaky attempt to undermine the steps in this process that protect us as workers and insurance holders. We are all working just to survive, our health is important and we want so badly to have the ability to take care of ourselves and to maintain a certain level of confidence that we will have care if we become ill or are injured. I fear this rate increase will be the final nail in the coffin that ends my coverage. With out the individual mandate as 2019 begins rates will increase as more people opt out of health care all together and I fear I may be put in the position where I have to decide whether I can afford health care or food and rent. The way this has been delivered to us in what seems to be a deliberate attempt to prevent us from expressing our concerns is disgusting and truly sad. Please, please consider our concerns! These rate changes are going to have true consequences on the health and well being of workers at !



I was very disturbed to receive a notice from Excellus announcing a potential increase in cost to the plans that I subscribe to and make available to my employees at First of all, Excellus seems to be operating in such a way as to inhibit its customers from commenting within the 30 day period. I received the notices to hand out to my employees on June 8 when the comment period supposedly started “on or about May 14” according to their notice. The notice is actually dated vaguely as “May 2018” instead of an actual date given for when it was composed. This leaves 6 days for my employees to actually respond with a comment on your site. This is clearly not a fairly communicated 30-day comment period. It’s obvious to me that they would prefer fewer comments because, who is going to welcome such extreme premium increases? And, of course, the answer is no one. I feel strongly that there is an ethical violation on Excellus’ part that needs to be addressed. In terms of the increase in rates, the insurance is already unaffordable to most people. The rates go up every year, yet the benefits offered don’t improve very much at all. I used to cover 100% of my employees’ insurance premiums, and over the past few years I’ve had to lower it to 80% and now 70% employer-covered because I can’t afford to cover it as a small business. is a certified living wage employer and my employees are still struggling to pay their 30% of the premium for a catastrophic health insurance plan that doesn’t offer much of a security blanket for normal health issues that come up in life. It is a shame that the system is sold out to these for-profit corporations instead of being geared toward the people. Please DO NOT approve a rate increase for Excellus.

As a participant in a single (non-family) high deductible plan, I have a difficult time understanding the need for premiums to increase by 8.9%. I joined our plan almost 7 years ago and I am responsible for the first $6,500 of my medical costs. I have not once met my deductible. However premiums have consistently outpaced inflation (3%) every year. This is 3 times inflation in a single year. A single rate hike of 8.9% will have compounding effects on the future rate that will continue to increase annually. This does not just affect 2019, but all subsequent years after. Furthermore Blue Cross has not detailed any additional services that would justify a change.


I find it extremely upsetting that Excellus is asking for a rate increase of 8% when they are able to give their top executes a 13% pay raise in 2017. In an article in The Post Standard the net income was 3.2% of the $5.6 billion it collected in revenue. The CEO gets paid $2.36 MILLION per year, I get paid $45 THOUSAND per year. How can the CEO live with himself!!!! They are hurting the American worker trying to make a living.

This phone number is my work number. I am submitting this as I can't believe we are once again upping the cost of insurance another 1.5 % in 2019. Please reconsider as the insurance is always needed but when you cut out more drug coverage and put up more costs this is no longer fair.

I have not seen a cost of living increase in years and to have an increase of 8.9% is too much. Insurance companies are out of control and are making huge profits. Obama care is causing our rates to go up and it needs to be controlled.

The rate increase of 7.4% is excessive. Excellus should cut costs and not raise rates. This is more than twice inflation. Premiums and deductables have been going at double digit rates for years while inflation has been near zero. The companies need to find other ways to increase profits. All insurance companies should be non-profit.

I would like to file a complaint against the insurance increase for 2019. I do not believe that I should be unfairly subjected to an increase in insurance. The rates should stay the same rate that I originally agreed to and any increase would be unjust.

I disagree with the motion to increase the Excellus insurance rates. The insurance rate is already very high and expensive, and it would be a struggle to have to pay even more. Please reconsider the decision to increase insurance rates.

I believe the proposed rate increase of 8% is too high given a NY growth rate increase of only 1-2%. I certainly understand that costs are increasing but this is not in line with the cost of living increase in our region. In addition, there are reports of excessive CEO payment/salary within Excellus. Given this information, I suggest a rate increase in the range of 3-4%. Thank you for your consideration.


https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2018/02/28/excellus-ceo-gets-13-percent-wage-increase/381547002/ Christopher Booth (President and CEO of Excellus) gave himself a 13% raise last year. See above link. He makes $2.3M salary. While I'm sure Chris Booth is set for life and can endure any cost of living hikes for the rest of his life, 99.99% of New Yorkers (or US citizens) will likely get <1% raises and can no longer endure ANY more premium hikes to support lavish lifestyles of people that probably don't deserve it. I propose that any premium bump that Excellus is asking for, Multiply that number by (-1), and send that rate back to them to deal with. I'm sure there are plenty of candidates in the US that would love to have Chris Booth's job and do it for $250K (or 1/10 of his current salary)...

Unknown Insurer2019 Public Comments

-----Original Message----- From: Insurance Inquiry Sent: Friday, June 08, 2018 9:42 AM To: Subject: NYS Department of Financial Services Consumer Assistance Unit Inquiry : Your inquiry submitted to the NYS Department of Financial Services Consumer Assistance Unit has been received and will be reviewed promptly. The information you entered is as follows: Your Name: Email:

Your Company/Organization: Daytime Telephone#: You are a(n): CONSUMER Type of Insurance question/comment: HEALTH Your Questions and/or Comments have been recorded as follows: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Why do health insurance costs go up every year without fail? And why do you use obfuscating language in your increase notice. "Modify"! "Change"! oh please! This is a shameful racket and anyone- anyone who plays a part in it should be ashamed of themselves. Wake up and be human! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sincerely, New York State Department of Financial Services Consumer Assistance Unit. email at: [email protected]

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