The Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services is working to finalize new health insurance rates that could include double-digit increases next year for those in the state’s biggest plans.

Overall, plans in the state’s individual market covering 462,062 individuals could increase by an average of 10.7%, while 424,070 covered by small group plans could see rate increases that average 11.2%, according to a 2025 DIFS report on rate requests.

In the individual market, Priority Health is requesting the biggest rate increase of 18.9% for 154,562 enrolled in 68 different plans, followed by Oscar Insurance Company with a 9.3% rate hike request, Blue Care Network of Michigan at 8.9%, Molina Healthcare of Michigan at 8.1%, and others. Sixty-one of 68 of Priority Health’s plans would increase by an average of more than 15%.

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Five of 12 companies in the small group market covering employers with fewer than 51 employees are seeking rate hikes above 10%, led by an average 13.5% rate increase requested by Priority Health that covers 91,223 through 79 plans, including 15 plans with requested rate increases that eclipse 15%.

Other companies seeking average double-digit small group market rate increases include Paramount Insurance Company at 12.5%, Priority Health Insurance Company at $12.3%, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Mutual Insurance Company at 11.5%, and Blue Care Network of Michigan at 11.2%.

DIFS concluded public comment on the proposed 2025 rate hikes in July, and is expected to finalize rates in October.

Many folks who purchase individual plans on the government marketplace will be able to leverage tax credits that run through 2025 to reduce offset what the Detroit Free Press describes as “a giant leap next year in the cost of health care.” Those credits cost taxpayers roughly $22 billion per year, the news site reports.

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Blue Cross, the state’s largest private commercial insurer, pointed to bigger claims and rising pharmacy costs as drivers for the requested rate increases in a statement to the Free Press on Friday. The company noted it has worked to keep average increases for small employers to roughly 5% in recent years.

“We remain vigilant on the pressure that both medical and pharmacy costs are having on small employer premiums,” the statement read.

Priority Health, meanwhile, is blaming the rising cost of popular weight-loss drugs like Ozempic for its requested rate hikes.

“We work extremely hard to maintain affordable rates that provide access to high-quality care for our members,” the Grand Rapids-based company wrote in a statement to the Free Press. “Nearly 90 cents of every dollar is spent on member care.”

The Detroit News reported last week that 10,000 Michiganders using weight-loss drugs like Ozempic will lose access as Blue Cross works to phase out coverage under large group commercial insurance plans in August.

The company cited the “prohibitively expensive” costs of the GLP-1s drugs, which also include popular brands Wegovy, Saxenda, and Zepbound. Claims for the medications, which cost up to $1,500 a month, have skyrocketed, James Grant, Blue Cross’s senior vice president and chief medical officer, told the news site.

“If your competitors aren’t paying for it, it makes it really tough for you to continue to pay for it at the same time,” Grant said.

Company officials told The News that claims for the weight-loss drugs have jumped from $8 million to over $100 million in just three years.

“At the end of the day, we had to be competitive and … the prices are off the wall,” Grant said, adding that Blue Cross will continue to cover the drugs for diabetes. “Our major competitors weren’t paying for it, so it put us at a real disadvantage when we’re pricing products out.”

The expected hike in health insurance rates is one of many rising costs in Michigan under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that’s taking a financial toll on residents.

A recent “in-depth look at average car insurance rates in Michigan” by MarketWatch Guides found drivers in the Great Lakes State pay 81% more than the national average, and the most in the nation.

“Michigan car insurance rates are as much as 81% to 117% higher than the national average,” researchers wrote.

Other pain points were detailed in a reworked Michigan Poverty & Well-being Map released by the University of Michigan in June that found 39% of Michiganders are facing significant economic problems.

The research, based on 2021 U.S. Census data, details skyrocketing housing costs near Detroit and in northwest Michigan, high rates of food insecurity in the east central region, lagging wages in east Michigan, high child poverty rates in the northeast, and the detrimental impact of poor educational outcomes in the south central region.

The data shows residents across the Upper Peninsula are struggling with average housing and transportation costs eating up half of their income, while folks in the southwest earn 8% less than the state median, including nearly 22% in Benton Harbor who earn half of the federal poverty threshold.

Similar reports detailing the struggles of residents in Whitmer’s Michigan have come from a study of “States with the Most People in Financial Distress” that ranked Michiganders number one, a 2024 Kids Count Data Book, a WalletHub analysis of the “Best and Worst-Run Cities in America,” U.S. News & World Report’s “50 Best Places to Live & Retire,” news reports on skyrocketing homelessness, a national “Best States” ranking, the U.S. Census Bureau, news reports on increasing demand at food banks and discount stores, and even Whitmer’s own Growing Michigan Together Council.