The federal health law rate review program is getting bigger.
The 39 states that get Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act review funding ended up with reviews rejecting, reducing or leading to the withdrawal of rate increases for 398,441 small-group plan enrollees, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report.
The review moves cut the premiums carriers could charge plan sponsors by an average of $131 per life.
The states involved have been running PPACA rate review programs for two years.
The number of lives affected by review-related rate changes has jumped 64 percent from the first year, while the average change value fell 28 percent.
In the individual market, the number of lives affected increased 9.8 percent, to 600,206.