Illinois Rate Review Grants Award List

Cycle I Grant Application Summary

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

• Pursue Additional Legislative Authority: Illinois currently does not have explicit rate review authority. The State intends to seek authority to review and approve health insurance premium rates and to disclose premium filings.
• Expand the Scope of the Review Process: Illinois will initiate health insurance premium review and approval for all forms of major medical coverage.
• Improve the Review Process: Illinois will develop the capacity to conduct prospective actuarial review on all major medical premium increases. The State will develop new rate filing and review protocols.
• Increase Transparency and Accessibility: Health insurance premium filings are not currently available to consumers. Illinois will start posting filings. Additionally the State will conduct public hearings on proposed rate increases. It will also develop interactive tools to help users navigate insurance premium information on its website. Illinois will also translate web and print health insurance information into Spanish, Polish and Korean.
• Develop and Upgrade Technology: Illinois will develop new information technology systems to help conduct health insurance premium reviews.

Cycle II Grant Application Summary

Illinois Grantee: Illinois Department of Insurance
Award Date: September 20, 2011
Total Award: $3,531,085
Baseline Award: $3,000,000
Workload Award Amount: $531,085

• Expand scope of rate review: Illinois is collecting rates in the individual and small group markets via a Bulletin issued during Cycle I of the rate review grant program.
• Improve rate filing requirements: Illinois will utilize a rate submission checklist to promote consistency among insurer rate filings. Illinois also proposes developing a standardized template for reporting filings that are subject to review” as outlined in the Final Rule. Illinois will analyze incoming rate data to identify market trends and generate reports for consumer outreach and financial and actuarial analysis.
• Improve transparency and consumer interfaces: Illinois has proposed a new hire (data analyst) to draft an "annual report" to inform consumers about market changes. Illinois also proposes enhancing its website to include rate filings, "unreasonable" determination information, a consumer-friendly summary of the Department's filing decisions, and consumer comment capability. Illinois will also conduct webinars on its enhanced rate review program.
• Hire new staff: Illinois plans to create 5 new positions with the Cycle II awards, these positions are in addition to the 5 positions created with Cycle I resources.
• Improve IT: Illinois will enhance its rate review web portal by expanding the ability to collect additional information, creating the functionality to update its web tool when rate increases are submitted, creating a web tool for consumers on group rates (currently only individual rates are available), and establishing a tool to conduct automated analyses of rate data to identify trends.
  

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