If you buy health insurance on the individual market, without help from an employer, you may want to know what Missouri is doing to protect you from unfair and unnecessary premium rate increases. Here’s a summary of the Missouri laws that govern rate increases.
- Missouri does not require health insurers to file their rate increases with the Department of Insurance.
- The premiums of nonprofit insurers may not be excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory. Excessive is defined as “unreasonably high relative to the corporation’s loss experience.” §354.152 R.S.Mo.. If, after a hearing, the director of the Department of Insurance finds that premiums do not meet this standard, he or she can issue an order prohibiting the use of the premium.