OKLAHOMA CITY – Preliminary rate filings for 2021 health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) show that Oklahoma consumers will have more health options next year, Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready recently announced.
Insurers that currently offer coverage through the Oklahoma marketplace filed plans requesting average statewide increases of 2.7%, the commissioner said.
The same insurers that offered individual health plans on the 2020 Exchange – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma (BCBSOK), Bright Health, and Medica Insurance Co. – will return for 2021, Mulready said.
In addition, Oscar Health, UnitedHealthCare (UHC) and CommunityCare Oklahoma (CCOK) will join the Oklahoma marketplace next year, providing consumers with more choices. BCBSOK and Medica offer statewide plans, while Bright Health, CCOK, Oscar and UHC serve limited areas of the state.
Moderate rate increase requests and new insurers offering plans in Oklahoma revealed that the Oklahoma insurance market is stable and able to offer multiple health insurance options for all residents, Mulready said.
“Creating more choices for consumers has been a top priority of mine, and it is encouraging to see more insurers enter the Oklahoma market and another year of modest rate change requests. It demonstrates that our efforts to stabilize and improve affordability in this market have been working.” Oklahoma has “a healthy, competitive individual health insurance market,” he said.
Rate filings for 2021 health insurance plans were approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and are posted at https://ratereview.healthcare.gov/. Final approved rates will be made public in September.