SANTA FE – New Mexico insurance regulators have approved the largest increases in health insurance premiums on the state’s subsidized exchange since its creation nearly four years ago.
New Mexico Insurance Superintendent John Franchini on Wednesday confirmed agency estimates of average premium increases ranging from 36 percent and 41 percent on mid-level insurance plans for 2018.
Franchini attributes nearly one-third of the approved price hikes to uncertainty about whether the federal government will block or discontinue subsidies to insurers. He also says rates are rising because not enough people are buying insurance through New Mexico’s federally subsidized marketplace.
About 55,000 New Mexico residents purchase insurance through the exchange.
