COVID Surcharge

[GGreen23]

A carrier in NJ is putting a “Covid Surcharge” on medical premiums since the February plan month.  Its no secret that carriers have lost significant revenue due to lower utilization (members not getting elective services) during the sheltering in place period of the Pandemic.  Does anyone have a good explanation / rationalization for the surcharge?  Was there any recent regulation that I may have missed that addresses this? Is this solely a New Jersey thing? Any help or guidance on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

[acm_acm]

The carrier's overall experience should have been good for 2020 due to the lower utilization that you mentioned, so I don't see why there should be surcharge for COVID.

[GGreen23]

Sorry for the misstatement. It was a MEWA (not a carrier). MEWA= Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements. When I spoke with them yesterday they would not divulge what my client's experience was in relation to claims due to the fact that the MEWA is a pooled arrangement in terms of underwriting.  I'm thinking group / my client should look elsewhere for another suitable plan to sponsor.  Here's an article to what's happening. Very strange. https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/rooney-spotlights-new-jerseys-small-business-health-insurance-crisis-induced-coronavirus/