Question: Obamacare requires insurers to submit all premium rate increases of 10% or more for state or federal review. Is this helping to reduce rates?

Answer: Yes. The average health insurance premium increase would have been 6.8% without ACA rate review, while the average rate change implemented was actually 5.4%. The ACA provision that requires insurers to submit all premium rate increases of 10% or more for state or federal review is working. About one in five requests by insurers to change premiums were denied, lowered or withdrawn during state review. During the eight-month period before the Sept. 1, 2011, implementation of the rate review provision, 33% of filings requested an increase of 10% or more. In the last four months, fewer than 18% of filings were for an increase of 10% or more.