AUGUSTA – HealthChoice product rates charged by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield will rise by an average of 16.7 percent beginning Jan. 1.

“The cost of paying for medical services … has gone up dramatically in the past year,” Anthem spokesman Mark Ishkanian said.

Superintendent of Insurance Alessandro Iuppa denied Anthem’s original rate-hike request on Nov. 9 but gave Anthem an opportunity to submit a revised filing.

Anthem submitted the new filing Nov. 13, proposing rates ranging from 0 percent to 25.6 percent, depending upon the benefit design of the plan selected. That plan was approved.

Under Anthem’s original filing seeking higher premiums for the individual HealthChoice line, rates would have risen by an average of 20.5 percent.

As identified in its initial filing, the specific rate revisions proposed by Anthem ranged from a 3.3 percent increase to a 56.8 percent increase, depending on deductible level and type of contract.

Ishkanian said the rates requested included a potential 5 percent profit, but state regulators reduced that to 3 percent. But the spokesman said regulators did acknowledge in their decision that soaring medical claims were the reason for the request.

The company says the market has deteriorated so significantly that Anthem lost $3 million in that product line last year. Anthem also says it’s not seeing enough new policy buyers to spread the risk while the number of claims increases.

Iuppa will leave his post as Maine insurance superintendent as of Jan. 13.

Named acting commissioner in 1997, Iuppa was appointed commissioner the following year by then-Gov. Angus King. He was reappointed by Gov. John Baldacci.

His tenure has included overseeing the merger of Unum Corp., which was headquartered in Portland, and The Provident Cos., headquartered in Chattanooga, Tenn., creating UnumProvident, the nation’s largest disability insurer.