Competition growing
Health Care Insurance by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has approved an average statewide rate increase of 6.6% for existing health insurance plans for individuals on the federal exchange for 2022. Insurance Commissioner David Altmaier warns that the individual market for so-called Obamacare policies is not as healthy as the small group market.
Fourteen health insurance companies submitted rate filings for major medical plans under the Affordable Care Act for OIR’s review (you can review the rate filing information here.). During his recent appearance before the Florida Senate’s Banking and Insurance Committee, Altmaier said that while the individual plan market is growing in both the number of consumers and insurance carriers, there are still three counties in Florida where only one carrier is offering on-exchange policies (see chart below).
Plan Year 2022 Individual Market Carriers by Florida County. Source: OIR
The small group plan market is healthier, Altmaier said, with a relatively stable number of group policyholders and a healthy amount of competition and choice. OIR approved an average rate increase of 7.9% for those small group plans, which he said keeps up with the medical trend.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services still needs to review and finalize Florida’s policy premiums. The increase does not reflect subsidies that many people receive to reduce their premium costs.
LMA Newsletter of 10-4-21
