The new HCR law is modeled on the Massachusetts plan, one of whose key features is the "exchange", where insurance is sold without pre-existing condition clauses. This assigned-risk pool here is called the Massachusetts Health Connector. It has a web site that allows anyone to sign up for a plan.
Last week, the Division of Insurance rejected the major insurers' proposed rate increases, which ranged from 8% to 30%. This was on top of huge hikes last year too. The insurers today sued the state, whining that they should be allowed to charge whatever they want.
Plans are sold both via the Connector and via brokers. The Connector itself has a related service that directs businesses to insurance brokers, and private brokers can still sell plans around the Connector. In general, low-risk customers are able to get a better rate by bypassing the Connector.
But in any case, the industry is now at a standstill. The insurers have been ordered to refund the amount of their April payments above approved levels. And they've sued to overturn the rate limits.
And every insurer that had its rates turned down has left the Connector. In my part of the state, Connector queries return an error -- precisely zero plans are available. Tufts, Harvard-Pilgrim, Fallon, and BCBS are all gone. In some parts of Boston, a tiny HMO, Celticare, is still available; their rates were not rejected (probably a smaller hike) so they're not part of the suit.
I diaried a couple of days ago that there is a need to starve the beast, using lower insurance payments as a way to force lower costs to trickle down into the system. The insurers clearly are not happy about letting that happen. The Obama administration must make sure that HCR is not sabotaged by insurers' being unwilling to provide service except at outrageous, unregulated rates.