As the state health insurance marketplace prepares for open enrollment in November, officials say the steep cost of popular weight-loss drugs has fueled higher premiums.
Increased provider rates also contributed to the rise in insurance premiums impacting the Massachusetts Health Connector, which offers health and dental coverage for individuals, families and businesses through carriers including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, UnitedHealthcare and Mass General Brigham.
For 2025’s open enrollment period, average merged markets rates — calculated across qualified health plans for individuals and small employers — increased by 7.9 percent before adjusting for age, said Kristopher Harackiewicz, senior director of plan management and carrier relations at the Connector. That uptick, which was approved by the Division of Insurance for medical plans, exceeds last year’s increase of 3.2 percent, he said.
“Massachusetts is not alone in seeing these higher rate increases for plan year 2025,” Harackiewicz told the Health Connector Board, which approved the carrier plans Thursday. “Data from nearby states show increases for plan year 2025 ranging anywhere from 7 to 18 percent, with Massachusetts seeing actually slighter lower than the average increases, versus states such as Rhode Island, who’s looking at anywhere from 7.8 up to 12 percent increases in their small group markets. Maine, looking at up to 9.4 increases, and Vermont actually looking at 18 percent increases, as well.”
Weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are partly driving the rate increases, Harackiewicz said.
Demand for the Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drugs has soared among Bay Staters, with more than 310,000 prescriptions filled among commercially-insured residents last year, the Health Policy Commission said in a recent analysis. Regulators expected total gross commercial spending on the drugs to exceed $270 million in 2023, compared to $125 million in…