The Washington state Insurance Commissioner’s office released a statement on Wednesday announcing that 12 health insurance providers had been approved to sell insurance in Washington’s 2023 Exchange health insurance market.
The market is where people who do not get health insurance coverage from their employer shop for insurance.
The average rate increase is 8.8 percent. The main factors behind that are pent-up demand for elective surgeries and changes to the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment program, which stabilizes the market by spreading the financial risk across all insurers.
“More than 200,000 people in Washington state get their health coverage through our individual market,” said Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. “It’s critical they have choices.”