Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island is one of the health insurers with rate increases for 2025. Seen here are the company’s offices on Exchange Street in Providence. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
More than 170,000 Rhode Islanders will see their monthly health insurance costs rise next year, but not by as much as private insurers wanted.
Newly approved 2025 rates unveiled by the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner on Tuesday feature year-over-year increases ranging from 1% to 14% depending on the type of insurance and the provider. The approved premiums will reduce residents’ costs by a combined $29.6 million in 2025, compared with the higher increases requested by commercial health insurers.
The initial rate hikes pitched by insurers in May drew sharp criticism from Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, who urged state regulators to deny what he blasted as “astronomical” increases. Neronha’s initial criticism focused on Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which was the only individual market insurer to ask for a double-digit rate increase.