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ObamaCare on federal exchanges increased by average 105% since '03: report

With the open enrollment less than two months away, we want to compile a table for all the 2016 premium increases for each state. 

NOTE: The table is not complete. We will continue to update it as we crunch the numbers. Meanwhile, if you know the rate increase for a state that we don’t have, comment below!

When Marie Benedetto opened her mail last week and learned her long-term care premium was going up a stunning 85 percent, she did what a retired math teacher would do. She made a spreadsheet.

Benedetto calculated she'd have to spend $1,328 a month or $15,936 a year for the policy after the increase goes into effect. That added up to a 415 percent increase in premiums since she first purchased the policy in 1997.

For Benedetto, the rate increase makes her policy unaffordable.

"It's not like Social Security or my teacher retirement is going to increase to cover those costs," said Benedetto, 69, of San Francisco.

The former San Francisco Unified School District teacher is one of 113,400 policyholders who bought long-term care insurance through the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, and will be hit with the 85 percent hike in 2015.

"They have been absolutely outraged," said Bonnie Burns, a policy specialist with California Health Advocates, an advocacy group for Medicare beneficiaries. "They feel the promises that were made to them when they bought these products have been violated."

Insolvency risk

The state pension fund's board decided in October to increase rates for the policies, which help pay for nursing-home care, home health care and other expenses not covered by Medicare. Board members said lower-than-expected investment earnings and loose underwriting forced them to take the drastic action or risk insolvency.

CalPERS, which runs the second-largest long-term-care program, behind the federal government, is not alone when it comes to raising rates.

Long-term-care coverage is a relatively new subset of the insurance industry. About 8 million Americans have bought this type of coverage since the 1980s, and most of the insurance providers have had to raise rates and drop more generous policies. Some have left the business.

The California Department of Insurance last year approved a 40 percent rate hike for some long-term-care policies covered by John Hancock Life Insurance Co., and gave Genworth Financial Inc. the go-ahead for an 18 percent increase. The agency regulates private long-term-care companies, but not CalPERS.

"Long-term-care insurance companies are expected to predict economic conditions and health costs 10, 20 years into the future. Nobody can really do that," said Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Thousands affected

CalPERS' rate hike affects those who bought long-term policies between 1994 and 2005 for lifetime coverage and protection from inflation. That group accounts for about 85 percent of the fund's 148,000 long-term-care policyholders.

"We have certainly heard concerns from members pertaining to these rate increases," said Ann Boynton, deputy executive officer of benefit programs policy and planning for CalPERS. She said policyholders will be offered various options, the highest being up to 10 years' worth of benefits and the option to purchase periodic inflation protection.

"We're definitely not making rate changes to drive people out of products," she said, adding that the average claim was for 3.5 years of care. Only 1 percent of claims exceeded nine years, she said. "We're providing them with alternatives."

Policyholders will get more information about their options in the coming months. They will be expected to make changes by June 30.

"I'm upset. People are upset. I don't know how they can get away with this," said Noele Krenkel, 59, of Berkeley, who is active in the retired teachers union, United Educators of San Francisco.

Learn more

More information: CalPERS members seeking more information about their long-term-care insurance hikes can call (800) 982-1775 or visit http://bit.ly/Xva9Rs.

Long-term care: The Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, or HICAP, offers free counseling about Medicare and long-term-care coverage. For more information, call (800) 434-0222.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected]