Arizona Rate Review Grants Award List

Cycle I Grant Application Summary

Arizona Grantee: Arizona Department of Insurance
Award Date: August 16, 2010
Award Amount: $1,000,000

• Improve the Review Process: Currently, Arizona conducts minimal completeness checks on individual health insurance rate filings. The State intends to improve their health insurance filing review process by hiring an actuarial consultant to review 95 percent of submissions for compliance and make recommendations.
• Increase Transparency and Accessibility: Health insurance premium filings are currently available only upon request and only in hard copy format. Arizona has proposed to create a consumer-friendly website for the publication of frequently asked questions as well as plain language information on filings and justifications by insurance companies for health insurance premiums increases.
• Develop and Upgrade Technology: Arizona will improve efficiency and streamline data sharing to assist in reviewing health insurance premiums.
  

Cycle II Grant Application Summary

Arizona Grantee: Arizona Department of Insurance
Award Date: September 21, 2012
Total Award: $2,000,000
Baseline Award: $2,000,000

• Pursue Stronger Authorities: Arizona currently has limited rate review authority, however, the state intends to seek authority to review and approve health insurance premium rates. Arizona plans to implement two new rules establishing rate review in the individual and small group markets.
• Increase Transparency and Accessibility: Arizona will implement and enhance the “Rate Detective” system to provide online interactive tools that help consumers and businesses make informed decisions about health insurance. In addition, the Department of Insurance will continue to educate both rural and urban consumers about rate review.
• Improve the Review Process: The Arizona Department of Insurance plans to develop and implement a new system for collecting rate information. In order to improve the quality and transparency of this system, the Department of Insurance will obtain stakeholder input on the data collection tools. Arizona also plans to develop a Rate Review Manual to help insurance companies, stakeholders, and consumers to understand the process.

Cycle IV Grant Application Summary

Arizona Grantee: Arizona Department of Insurance
Award Date: September 19, 2014
Total Award: $1,179,000

• Improve the Quality/Efficiency of Rate Review: Arizona will create agency-wide Effective Rate Review “Best Practices” which will be a more holistic approach to rate review (reviewing rates as part of the whole of health insurance regulation, and of Arizona health insurance rates, rather than reviewing rates as isolated to a single filing). This will integrate rate review with solvency evaluation, consumer assistance, market conduct examination, and fraud investigation.  Arizona will increasingly merge rate review and corresponding Affordable Care Act Benefits Review for a more holistic evaluation of benefits and rates during the review process.
• IT and Other Technology Based Improvements: Arizona will obtain and customize software and hosted programs to develop analytics to assess each element of rate review, provide data to other Divisions, and evaluate rates in the context of the market as a whole.  The improved analytics will provide enhanced mechanisms for consumers to research form and rate filing information, create analytics for in-depth and holistic rate review analysis, and produce the analysis necessary for reporting as required to the Secretary of HHS, the Federally-facilitated Marketplace, and other stakeholders.
• Enhance Consumer Outreach: Arizona will add a Best Practices Coordinator position to its staff to research and analyze data regarding health insurance issuers’ market share, complaint trends, Form/Rate filing records, and financial information, among other duties. The Coordinator will evaluate complaint data (including CMS Health Insurance Complaint System data) to identify issuer trends or areas of non-compliance for consideration during market analysis and examinations.  In addition, Arizona consumers will benefit from the new software and hosted programs because the programs will enhance website transparency. For example, it will be customized to provide advanced website “Rate Detective” filing search capability, and advanced displays of rate filing transparency information.

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