On August 20, 2021, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) announced that the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) approved its 2.8% average rate increase for individual customers who enroll in Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans in 2022. Skyrocketing prescription drugs and increasing medical costs are driving rates higher, but progress in Blue Cross NC’s industry-leading move to value-based care creates savings to offset increasing costs and ensure rates remain affordable for members.

Between 2009 and 2019, health care spending in the United States rose nearly a trillion dollars, and these costs are expected to continue climbing.

• In 2019, health care spending was nearly $3.8 trillion, or $11,582 per person, and by 2028, these costs are expected to climb to $6.2 trillion—roughly $18,000 per person.
  
• Between 2010 and 2025, prescription drug prices are expected to increase by 136 percent.
• For 2022, PwC's Health Research Institute (HRI) projects the medical cost percentage increase to be 6.5%.

To counterbalance these rising health care costs and keep average rate increases lower than national medical cost increases, Blue Premier, Blue Cross NC’s landmark value-based care program, generated an estimated $196 million in cost savings in 2020.

“Our move to value-based care continues to positively impact our members, even as health care costs rise” said Tunde Sotunde, CEO of Blue Cross NC. “Now in its second year, Blue Premier has created savings that enable us to make health care more affordable, in addition to improving health care outcomes. This moves us one step closer to our goal: to make health care better, simpler and more affordable for all.”

For more details, view the full press release.