PORTLAND – A plan by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine to raise rates to individual policyholders by an average of 14.7 percent has drawn the attention of the Attorney General’s Office.

“We want to make sure that there is a need for this and we’re likely going to be advocating that [the increases] be lower,” said Assistant Attorney General Christina Moylan.

More than 35,000 people insured through the individual market stand to be affected by the changes in Anthem’s HealthChoice policies.

About 93 percent of HealthChoice members have higher deductibles, said Anthem spokesman Clark Dumont.

But the remaining 7 percent of policyholders, who have lower deductibles and more comprehensive coverage and use more health services, will face higher increases, Dumont said.

Nine subscribers with a particularly high level of health care use will see increases ranging from 109 to 158 percent, Dumont said.

Dan Mercer, a chaplain in South Portland, said his monthly premium would jump about 50 percent from $487 to $732 under the proposal. He plans to urge the state’s insurance superintendent, Al Iuppa, to reject the proposal at a Nov. 12 public hearing in Augusta.

“As an individual it gives me several basic choices,” Mercer said. “Go without insurance, get on state insurance – meaning I’d have to quit my job – or be stuck with a bill they know I have to pay.”

Dumont said Anthem has kept HealthChoice premiums stable for the last two years, but health care services are becoming more costly and new services have been added.

He also noted that the individual group market tends to draw sicker people than the group market, in a scenario called adverse selection. The healthier segment of the uninsured may try to skimp on insurance, but those with chronic conditions, for example, cannot go without.

“Generally speaking, the experience is that people covered by individual plans tend to observe higher use of services,” Dumont said.