Obamacare plans will see modest average price hikes of 5.4 percent next year, Florida regulators announced Wednesday.
The 11 insurers selling on the health insurance marketplaces set up under President Obama’s healthcare law had originally proposed an average 6.4 percent increase, but after having to justify the hikes to regulators, some insurers toned them down.
Seven of the plans are raising rates, including Humana and United Healthcare of Florida, which are increasing them by 16 percent. But four are lowering rates, one by nearly 10 percent.
The announcement is somewhat of a relief for the Obama administration, which has had to grapple with public consternation caused by big, double-digit hikes some insurers proposed this year. Health and Human Services Department spokesman Ben Wakana said the Florida numbers demonstrate the Affordable Care Act is working to spur competition.
“We are pleased that Florida was able to review rates and to significantly reduce proposed rates for more than half of the issuers in the state,” he said. “Floridians will continue to have access to quality, affordable health coverage.”
Average prices are rising more quickly if individual market plans sold off the exchanges are taken into consideration. Altogether, the premiums for all 19 individual plans sold in Florida will be 9.5 percent more expensive starting in January. The largest price increase, 26 percent, comes from an off-exchange plan offered by United Healthcare.
Florida is one of the first states to announce 2016 rates. Rhode Island, Kentucky, Oregon and Michigan also have released final rates.
The rates are a politically charged topic, as Republicans say the healthcare law’s new requirements on insurers will cause premiums to spike. But Democrats argue that it is increasing competition among plans, prompting them to avoid big increases.
