PORTLAND – Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield will raise rates for more than 30,000 Mainers enrolled in individual HealthChoice plans by an average of 14 percent starting next month.

Maine’s insurance superintendent approved the rate increase after rejecting a proposal in December that would have increased rates by an average of 14.7 percent.

The initial rate request required a public hearing, but the revised version did not. As a result, some ratepayers were caught off guard when Anthem began notifying them last month of the upcoming rate increase.

Joseph Keierleber of Portland is among the subscribers who have complained to the bureau. The forensic science technician says the new increases are particularly serious because he can’t benefit from group rates.

“I think it’s excessive and it’s going to be hurtful to people in Maine who depend on these individual health care policies to protect their health,” said Keierleber, who will see his monthly premium for a $5,000-deductible plan jump 16.6 percent to about $325.

The Bureau of Insurance, however, maintains that the new rate proposal is a better deal overall for subscribers to HealthChoice, the most popular individual health plan in Maine, with 19,000 policies covering about 32,000 Mainers.

“The rate increase is distributed more evenly, and in the aggregate it’s a smaller increase and it’s effective for a shorter time,” said Rick Diamond, an actuary for the bureau.

The old proposal would have taken effect in January, with changes ranging from a decrease of 4.2 percent to an increase of 106.5 percent. Anthem said it needed to charge more because subscribers were using more services. Indeed, the biggest increases were targeted at the biggest HealthChoice consumers of health care – subscribers who purchase plans with lower deductibles.

Insurance Superintendent Alessandro Iuppa, however, found the proposal to be “excessive and unfairly discriminatory,” and advised Anthem to make changes.

Under the new proposal going into effect March 1, changes range from 3 percent decreases to 25 percent increases, and do not relate to how many health services subscribers consume.

Plans with higher deductibles of $5,000 to $15,000 – the most popular HealthChoice products covering 16,000 subscribers and their dependents – will see increases of up to 17 percent.

Clark Dumont, spokesman for Anthem, said the company seeks rate increases only after “significant review and consideration.” He pointed out that the last rate increase took effect in January 2003 and averaged 3.4 percent.