Attorney General William Tong is urging the Connecticut Insurance Department to closely examine steep health insurance rate hike requests from seven insurers in the individual and small group markets, covering about 224,000 residents. Proposed average increases are 17.8% for individual plans and 13.1% for small group plans, compared to last year’s hikes of 8.3% and 11.9%, respectively.

“Too many Connecticut families cannot afford health insurance and cannot afford to live without it. This is an utterly broken and unworkable system, and the costs - the monthly premiums, deductibles, coinsurances and copays, and the nickel and diming over fees - are only getting worse. It cannot continue like this,” said Attorney General Tong.

For the first time, public hearings will include insurers, hospitals, and pharmacy benefit managers in the same forum to address cost drivers. Tong’s comments highlight concerns about provider upcoding and lack of insurer oversight, citing cases where patients were billed for higher-level services than received, resulting in substantial out-of-pocket costs.

Tong also criticized insurers for failing to negotiate itemized fees with providers, noting that they admitted during 2023 hearings that no such negotiations occur. He continues to press for reforms to the pricing and negotiation system to make healthcare more affordable for families and small businesses.