Attorney General William Tong released the following statement regarding insurance rate hike requests announced by the Connecticut Insurance Department from seven health insurers for plans available on the individual and small group market, both on and off the state-sponsored exchange. Collectively, the plans cover approximately 224,000 people in Connecticut. The proposed average individual rate hike request is 17.8 percent, compared to 8.3 percent last year. The proposed average small group rate hike request is 13.1 percent, compared to 11.9 percent last year. “These rates are simply unaffordable for Connecticut families and small businesses. I’ll be combing through every page of these applications and demanding that insurers justify every penny and every step they have taken to curb these out-of-control costs." – AG Tong