A majority of health insurers are poised to reduce premiums next year, but that doesn’t mean insurance costs are going down.

In fact, those who buy their health insurance on the individual market will pay about 9.7% more in 2024, according to the state Division of Insurance, which finalized its rate review for health insurance premiums for next year.

In the small group market, which applies to businesses with fewer than 100 employees, premiums are expected to increase by 8%.

Despite the anticipated increases, Colorado officials immediately pointed to a state insurance program – and their own actions – as reasons for the savings they insisted residents will see next year.   

A trade group of insurance companies isn’t buying the official line, arguing that insurance carriers already actively negotiate with hospitals to keep costs low.   

The premium increases are less than what the division predicted back in July, when officials estimated rates would go up by double digits.

Rate increases announced Monday affect only those in the small group and individual market, which is about 15% of the total insured market.

Despite those increases, the Polis administration claimed that – because of the state’s reinsurance program, which covers high cost claims for insurance companies – premium increases would have been 24.4% higher.

“I am thrilled to announce that Coloradans will save $411 million on health insurance premiums next year. I am committed to looking at every solution to save people money on health care to ensure that Coloradans can access quality care when they need it most,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Monday.  

“The division continues to hammer away at health care costs, working to limit rising costs and save people money on health care,” added Colorado Insurance Commissioner Michael Conway. “As it does every year, our team dug deep into what the companies filed to push down on what they wanted to charge. And the Colorado Option hearing process did something that is nearly unprecedented in health care in the U.S. – the Colorado Option actually bent the cost curve and reduced health care costs, and in turn brought down premiums.”

For people currently enrolled in a Colorado Option plan, if they enroll in the lowest-cost plan available, they can limit premium increases to only 7%, on average, the division claimed.

Still, those plans may not be the lowest cost available on the market.

Coloradans who receive financial assistance through Connect for Health Colorado may see no change or even a decrease to their premiums, when their assistance for 2024 coverage is calculated. The division estimated that some Connect for Health Colorado enrollees could find premiums of less than $100 per month.

There will be 371 health plans available to small employers, and, “much like the individual market, the DOI’s rate review authority made 66% of the companies pull down their initial premium increases by as much as 27% for some companies,” the division said.

The Colorado Association of Health Plans offered a different view of Monday’s announcement.

“While the Reinsurance Program continues to benefit many Coloradans, the Colorado Option has not fulfilled its promises,” the association said in a statement Tuesday.

That’s because there are fewer choice for Colorado consumers, in the wake of the decision by four health insurers to pull out of Colorado within the last year, the group noted. The companies that left included Humana, which covered about 155,000 members in the small group market only; Bright Health, which covered about 30,000 members; Oscar Health, which covered 3,800 members; and, Friday Health Plans, which had about 30,000 Coloradans in its health plans.

The latter three all offered coverage in the small business and individual markets.

In a statement on Tuesday, Saskia Young, the executive director of Colorado Association of Health Plans, said, “DOI is couching its legal obligation to ensure premium rates are not ‘excessive, inadequate, or discriminatory’ as a newfound win for Colorado consumers, when in fact it is the same premium filing process that occurs every year.”

“It is important to note that prior to the passage of the public option law that grants the DOI authority to call for public hearings, carriers had already negotiated hospital reimbursement rates at or below the floor established by the law,” she said. “While the result of many compounding factors, the recent insurer insolvencies of Bright Health and Friday Health highlight the importance of the DOI’s work in this space to protect consumers by ensuring adequate rates.”

The trade group said the Colorado Option program requires additional coverage at lower prices, “which is not how insurance, nor any other industry works.”

Open enrollment begins on Nov. 1 and runs through Jan. 15, 2024, although in order for someone to have a health insurance plan in place for Jan. 1, that plan must be purchased by Dec. 15. Plans purchased between Dec. 15 and Jan. 15 would go into effect on Feb. 1, 2024.