PORTLAND (AP) – Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine wants to raise rates by an average 18.6 percent across its HealthChoice line, which provides insurance for about 25,000 people who do not have access to group coverage.

The request submitted to the Maine Bureau of Insurance follows HealthChoice rate increases of 14.5 percent in 2005 and 16.3 percent in 2006, along with two increases this year: 16.7 percent in January and another 1.3 percent in July.

HealthChoice, which serves self-employed Mainers and those who lack insurance through employers, is deteriorating as the number of subscribers has dropped from about 36,000 to 25,000 over three years, said company spokesman Mark Ishkanian.

Healthy Mainers are dropping the insurance because it’s too expensive, and that makes it even more expensive to insure the remaining participants, Iskanian said.

“We are really trying to make the case that this increase is really driven by the now urgent need for a look at reforming Maine’s insurance laws,” he said.

Anthem believes the state should create a separate, subsidized high-risk pool while giving insurers greater flexibility to adjust rates based on factors, such as age, that have a big impact on the bottom line, Ishkanian said.

Fewer than 1 percent of the consumers in the individual market incur about 42 percent of the claims, the spokesman said.

But altering the law to allow variable rates would represent radical change that serves to “segregate the healthy from the sick and make older people pay much, much higher premiums” than they do now,” said Joe Ditre of Consumers for Affordable Health Care.

As for the rate increase, Anthem’s own records don’t support another rate increase, Ditre said. Anthem had net profits of $41.4 million in 2006 and more than $39 million in 2005, despite losses in the individual market, Ditre said.

“It’s unconscionable that a health insurance company that has profits as healthy as Anthem would seek such a large rate increase for those who can least afford health coverage,” he said.

The Bureau of Insurance, which will have the final say, often reduces the rate of increase. For example, Anthem asked for an average 20.5 percent increase for 2007, and it was reduced by nearly 4 percentage points.

Anthem’s proposal would mean an increase that ranges from 4.9 percent to 22.6 percent, depending on deductible levels and plans.

For a typical customer between 40 and 44 whose policy for two adults and at least one child has a $5,000 deductible, premiums would jump from $739 a month to $865 a month. For an individual, monthly premiums would grow from $279 to $342.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, https://www.pressherald.com

AP-ES-08-30-07 0948EDT