Six firms file to sell Obamacare insurance in state, but only three operate in South Florida

June 24--Six health insurance firms are seeking approval to offer plans on the federal exchange in Florida in 2018, but that doesn't mean South Florida customers will have more choices next year.

The companies are seeking to continue selling Obamacare plans while political signals from Washington, D.C., indicate the marketplace won't be dismantled this year as some had feared after President Trump's election. A U.S. Senate bill introduced Thursday would extend federal cost-sharing subsidies for exchange plans through 2019.

Three of the firms that filed for approval from state insurance regulators to offer plans next year in Florida are all part of the same family of companies. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida [Florida Blue], Health Options Inc., and Florida Health Care Plans Inc. are all owned by Jacksonville-based GuideWell Mutual Holding Corp.

In early June, Florida Blue became the first insurer to announce it would continue selling on the federal exchange in Florida. Florida Blue said it will again offer plans in all 67 Florida counties next year.

The organization offers preferred provider organization/exclusive provider organization (PPO/EPO) plans through Florida Blue and health maintenance organization (HMO) plans through Health Options Inc.

A third Florida Blue affiliated company, Florida Health Care Plan Inc., only offers HMO coverage in Central Florida. It has no plans to expand into South Florida, Florida Blue spokesman Doug Bartel said Friday.

Another of the firms that submitted rate plans to state regulators by Wednesday's deadline is Health First Commercial Plans, Inc., which offers plans in Brevard, Indian River, Flagler and Volusia counties. The company received preliminary approval to offer plans in Seminole County in 2018 but has no plans to expand beyond that, a company spokesman said Friday.

Aside from Florida Blue, just two other companies that sold plans in South Florida in 2017 also want to enter the marketplace in 2018. One is California-based Molina and the other is St. Louis-based Centene, which sells insurance under the brand name Ambetter.

Centene this month announced plans to expand its presence within Florida. Molina, meanwhile, did not immediately respond to an email asking whether it plans to remain in the tri-county region.

However, in 2017, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami Dade were the only Florida counties where Molina sold individual health insurance plans on the federal exchange. The company got its start selling managed Medicaid plans and expanded into Florida's individual insurance market by targeting Miami-Dade consumers who no longer qualified for Medicaid because of rising incomes.

Three other companies -- AvMed Inc., Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, and Freedom Life Insurance Company -- submitted plans to sell insurance that complies with Affordable Care Act regulations, but are "off exchange" and thus ineligible for tax credits that help lower premiums.

The average rate increase for the nine companies that submitted plans is 17.8 percent, according to a news release from the state Office of Insurance Regulation. Most consumers are unlikely to see that kind of an increase. In 2017, about 90 percent of consumers who bought "on exchange" qualified for tax subsidies and paid an average $84 a month for their coverage.

Four companies, including Florida Blue, Molina and Centene, sold on-exchange plans in all three South Florida counties last year. The fourth, Humana, announced this spring it was exiting all exchanges in the U.S. after this year.

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

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