Health insurers in Florida want rate increases up to 63 percent in 2016, according to federal information posted Monday.
The state’s outliers top an eye-popping 51 percent increase for New Mexico insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of the highest requests known nationally before this week.
In Florida, Time Insurance Co. leads the way with increases of 63 percent and 53 percent in two Affordable Care Act plans, records show. Others with requests greater than 10 percent include Aetna (18 percent to 21 percent in three plans), Coventry (15 pecent to 18 percent in three plans), Preferred Medical Plan Inc. (14.5 percent) and Cigna (12.8 percent).
“The rates that we are filing simply reflect the costs of health care including the cost of services, the amount of services people will receive and an increase in pharmaceutical costs,” said Walt Cherniak, spokesman for Aetna and Coventry. “For 2016, we expect that medical costs will grow by 8 percent to 10 percent in the individual market.”
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