mr. redmer. >> thank you, mr. chairman members of the committee. i appreciate the opportunity to testify on proposed individual and small group rate increases in maryland, and i especially appreciate being here on the day that you chose to give tribute to congressman lewis. as some added perspective, i've been in the health insurance business my entire adult life, includeing time as a producer, time in the maryland legislature, and time as a ceo of a regional health insurance carrier. maryland carriers were required to provide their proposed rate increases on may 1st. we are currently going through our actuarial review of those proposed rate increases and will make a final determination by the end of july. maryland does have a state-based exchange in the individual marketplace. we are seeing a low where we see a reduction of .3% by one carrier. we see an increase on the high side of a little over 30% by care first which is our blue cross and blue shield carrier, which has a significant majority of the market share. it's in part because they lost si

mr. redmer did you want to reply to this, as well? no. mr. kreidler? >> i actually agree. i think as regular lay to recalls we found it a very difficult action on the part of h hs and applied and problematic. i think the real question is, is this one where hhs sees the problem and the problem would be that if coming with a new plan you can totally avoid showing your rates as going up precipitously. i think as all members of congress certainly the public wants to know that information. you can't use it as a way to on vis kate and the only tool available to hhs is a draconian steps they have taken it is obviously one where maybe this is where you could get unanimity to amend the affordable care act in congress so that they have a tool that is much more sensitive rather than saying you're out of business for five years. which is the only option i believe that they have. it was inappropriate to try to do it the way they were doing it, though. >> thank you. mr. chairman, i yield back. >> mr. smith of nebraska. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for allowing me to join the co

mr. roskam: it's a ramification of adverse selection. commissioner redmer: correct. mr. roskam: could you give us any insight in terms of long-term trends you're seeing in tennessee as it relates other things, cadillac tax and so forth. how is this playing out for you? commissioner mcpeak: in tennessee right now we are hearing a tremendous amount of feedback from a large employers that are concerned about being assessed what has been described as a cadillac tax for having a high value health insurance plan available to their employees and executives. of particular concern, and i share this concern when i hear it from the employers representative black has probably heard the very same thing, the cost of on-site clinics for employers is being included in the value in the cost of that health plan high value health plan, for purposes of calculating the cadillac tax. and employers rather than -- that is a decision or guidance that is under way through the internal revenue service. employers instead of paying that cadillac tax are instead choosing to close those on-site clinic