Health insurance premiums to rise 9.5 percent for 2016, Florida state regulator reports

The Miami Herald reports:

Health insurance premiums for Floridians who buy their own plans will rise 9.5 percent on average for 2016, though some consumers will pay less for their coverage than they did this year, state insurance regulators reported Wednesday.

A total of 19 health insurance companies submitted rate filings to Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation, which this year regained the authority to deny rate increases for health plans sold on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchange at HealthCare.gov. A 2013 state law barred the state agency from regulating rates for those exchange plans, but that prohibition expired in March.

As a result, Florida regulators denied proposed rate increases for more than half of the issuers in the state for 2016. The majority of health plans received approval for single-digit increases, and four decreased their rates from 2015.

Insurers submitted the rate filings in May for all major medical plans sold on and off the ACA exchange for the individual market. State regulators approved them this week following a review of the actuarial soundness and financial solvency of the plans.

A central planning board in action.