In a sign it will stay in Florida, Molina of California to file rate request for health insurance marketplace

June 15--Molina Healthcare intends to submit rates for approval to remain on Florida's health insurance marketplace in 2018, a company spokeswoman said.

The statement, in response to questions by the Sun Sentinel on Wednesday, follows news that health insurers Florida Blue and Centene plan to sell health insurer plans on the state's so-called Obamacare exchanges for 2018.

Whether those exchanges will even exist is the subject of speculation, as the U.S. Senate continues to craft its version of the American Health Care Act bill passed by the House in early May.

"I can confirm Molina Healthcare plans to file initial rates to continue offering Marketplace products in Florida in 2018," Molina spokeswoman Leigh Woodward said in an email.

She did not elaborate and did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.

Based in Long Beach , Calif., Molina is a managed care organization that provides health care programs for low income families and individuals.

Molina insured 196,000 individual marketplace members and 349,000 Medicaid members in Florida at the end of 2016, according to the most recent figures available from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

In late April, Molina CEO J. Mario Molina sent a letter to Congressional leaders warning that the company would have "no choice" but to pull out of the nation's Affordable Care Act marketplaces immediately -- and cancel existing health insurance for 650,000 to 750,000 members -- if the government ceased funding federal cost-sharing subsidies that have helped reduce co-pays and deductibles for low-income members.

President Trump has threatened to cut off the payments if Congressional Democrats fail to participate in Republican efforts to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. Uncertainty over the government's willingness to continue the subsidies has prompted health insurers that want to remain in the exchanges to warn that without them, individual plan rates could rise about 20 percent.

On Tuesday, Centene said it will enter health insurance markets in three new states next year and expand its presence in six other states, including Florida, where it already does business.

"Centene recognizes there is uncertainty of new healthcare legislation, but we are well positioned to continue providing accessible, high quality and culturally-sensitive healthcare services to our members," Centene CEO Michael F. Neidorff said in a statement.

Centene, based in St. Louis, sells plans in South Florida under the product name Ambetter. The company said it has been able to turn a profit selling narrow-network plans to low-income members. The company also specializes in managing Medicaid programs.

Four insurers -- Molina, Florida Blue, Centene, and Humana -- sold 2017 individual market plans in the tricounty region.

In Feburary, Humana said it was dropping out of the individual exchanges, citing the "unbalanced risk pool."

Overall in Florida, about 1.7 million people bought individual health plan coverage for 2017. Of them, about 1.2 million qualified for federal subsidies

[email protected], 954-356-4071, twitter: twitter.com/ron_hurtibise

___

(c)2017 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.