• Over the first three years of Obamacare, per capita monthly premiums in Maine increased by 28%, from $334 in 2013 to $426 in 2016.
• Over the first five years of Obamacare, 50% fewer insurers offered Exchange coverage in Maine, from 4 in 2013 to 2 in 2018.
• 2019 Rate Request: The requested average rate increases in Maine for 2019 are: 13.8 percent for Anthem, 9.5 percent for Harvard Pilgrim Health, and 9.2 percent for Community Health Options. Maine has applied for a federal waiver from Obamacare mandates in order to reactivate a state-run reinsurance program. The three insurers have filed alternative rate requests that would become applicable if the waiver is approved. Those alternative rate requests are: an average rate reduction of 8.7 percent for Anthem, an average rate increase of 4.6 percent for Harvard Pilgrim Health, and an average rate increase of 6.9 percent for Community Health Options.
• 2019 Rate Finalized: Finalized by mid-October

Health care remains a major focus of the public discussion as premium prices rise and choices dwindle. Throughout the summer and into the fall, Obamacare insurers will announce decisions about the prices they want to charge and plans they want to offer next year, submitting them to regulators for review and approval. Research shows prices have been rising steadily since Obamacare was first implemented, more than doubling in some places because of its failed policies and regulations.

The best way to provide relief for Americans struggling under these heavy burdens is to replace Obamacare with free-market solutions that put patients and doctors—not federal bureaucrats—in charge of health care decisions and dollars.

The three states that have begun to provide this kind of relief – after being granted federal waivers from Obamacare - are seeing rate reductions. Congress should go farther and make it easy for states to take these actions.

This piece was authored by Ed Haislmaier.