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Affordable Care Act insurance rates up 5.8 percent in New Jersey

The average requested rate increase for 2019 individual Affordable Care Act insurance plans in New Jersey is 5.8 percent. Without the state's version of an individual mandate, signed into law by Gov. Murphy in May, the average requested increase would have been 12.6 percent.

Gov. Murphy signed a law in May creating an individual health insurance mandate for New Jersey. The state Department of Banking and Insurance said that without that mandate rates next year would likely be 6.8 percent higher.
Gov. Murphy signed a law in May creating an individual health insurance mandate for New Jersey. The state Department of Banking and Insurance said that without that mandate rates next year would likely be 6.8 percent higher.Read moreWILLIAM THOMAS CAIN / For The Inquirer

The average requested rate increase for next year's individual Affordable Care Act insurance plans in New Jersey is 5.8 percent, the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance said Friday.

The requests from four insurers ranged from 0.8 percent for one of AmeriHealth of New Jersey's plans to 9.8 percent for one offered by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. Two insurers, Oscar and Oxford, are not active in southern New Jersey.

Without the state's version of an individual mandate, signed into law by Gov. Murphy in May, the average requested increase would have been 12.6 percent, the department said. Last year's federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the individual insurance requirement on a federal level.

New Jersey has applied for permission from the federal government to create a reinsurance program that would reduce next year's rates by 15 percent, the department said. Final rates are expected to be released in the fall.