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R.I. health insurance rates are going up next year, but not as much as insurers wanted
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island is one of the health insurers with rate increases for 2025. Seen here are the company’s offices on Exchange Street in Providence. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
More than 170,000 Rhode Islanders will see their monthly health insurance costs rise next year, but not by as much as private insurers wanted.
Newly approved 2025 rates unveiled by the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner on Tuesday feature year-over-year increases ranging from 1% to 14% depending on the type of insurance and the provider. The approved premiums will reduce residents’ costs by a combined $29.6 million in 2025, compared with the higher increases requested by commercial health insurers.
The initial rate hikes pitched by insurers in May drew sharp criticism from Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, who urged state regulators to deny what he blasted as “astronomical” increases. Neronha’s initial criticism focused on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which was the only individual market insurer to ask for a double-digit rate increase.
Blue Cross, in turn, defended its requested 14.3% rate hike for the 17,000 enrollees on its individual insurance plan, pointing to soaring drug costs and medical services, which resulted in a $26 million operating loss in 2023, the company said.
After an independent review, Neronha later decried rate hikes proposed by the other five private insurers, some of which proposed even steeper premium hikes; UnitedHealthcare of New England topped the list with a requested 22.7% increase for its small-group market, which affects 1,644 residents on small-business insurance plans.
Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner Cory King acknowledged the competing arguments from health insurers and ratepayer advocates like Neronha.
“Each year my office must strike a difficult balance between affordability, the funding needs of the health care delivery system, and insurer solvency,” King said in a statement. “Rising premiums negatively impact Rhode Islanders’ economic well-being. When insurers pay more for health care goods and services, premiums go up. Addressing the rising cost of healthcare is a core focus of my office, and we will continue our work with health care providers and insurers to lower Rhode Islanders’ health care costs.”
Blue Cross President and CEO Martha Wofford called the approved rates “concerning” and warned of further financial shortfalls next year.
“Healthcare costs in Rhode Island are soaring. We have experienced 20% growth in medical and drug costs since 2023, which is far outpacing premium increases OHIC approved last year,” Wofford said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are highly focused on improving affordability and the last thing we want to do is increase rates for our customers and members, however, it is imperative for healthcare stability in Rhode Island that OHIC establish premiums that adequately cover surging costs.”
Neronha’s office did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment on Tuesday. Most of the approved rates are lower, or on par, with the increases suggested by his office.
The rates do not apply to self-funded employer groups, which account for approximately 65% of Rhode Island’s employer-sponsored coverage, according to OHIC. Self-funded employers pay employee health expenses directly, but they also rely on health insurers for administrative services.
Affected enrollees in individual market plans will see premiums rise by a weighted average of 7.8% next year — with an approved 11% hike for Blue Cross enrollees. The average, weighted small-group market rate increase is 12.4%, while enrollees in large-group markets will see average, weighted increases of 11.2%.
The steepest annual premium hike will be borne by the 1,644 small-group market members enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare plan, for whom rates will rise 14%. The smallest annual increase is for large-group market enrollees under Cigna Healthcare, who will see a .9% rise in 2025 rates.
Premiums are calculated based on the claims that private insurers make to hospitals, physicians and pharmacies for treating their enrollees. Premium increases are driven by increases in use of services, and the intensity of services, along with higher reimbursement rates, according to OHIC. Administrative charges can also spark requested premium increases by insurance companies; the approved 2025 rates rejected all administrative-related increases that exceed inflation.
Elizabeth McClaine, vice president of commercial health care products for Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, said in a statement that the company respects state regulators’ annual review and approval process.
“We set rates to balance cost to members and reimbursement to providers while ensuring access to high quality care,” McClain said in an email. “Neighborhood takes seriously its role to ensure cost is not a barrier to high quality services.”
UnitedHealthcare declined to comment.
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New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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