Florida Blue declares it will remain in ACA marketplace

Florida Blue plans to stay in the health insurance marketplace in 2018, though the future of Obamacare and its subsidies are still unclear, officials said Friday.

“People have heard that some of the major insurers are pulling out, and we wanted to make sure that we were upfront to say that our intention is to stay in every county,” said Tony Jenkins, market president for Florida Blue’s Central Florida Region.

That’s not to say that the insurer’s rates won’t change.

Jenkins said he couldn’t disclose the 2018 rates until they are submitted to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation later this month and then made public by the agency.

“But what we can share right now is that if [subsidies] are not approved, our rates will be 20 percent higher than what we’ll submit to the Office of Insurance Regulations,” he said.

That is in line with projections that show an increase of 9 percent to 27 percent in premiums in more than three dozen states that participate in the marketplace if cost-sharing subsidies are taken away by lawmakers, who are working on an Obamacare replacement bill.

Funded by the federal government, the cost-sharing subsidies help lower-income individuals obtain health insurance at a lower rate. Without the funding, insurance companies say they won’t be able to offset the cost.

“And it puts a heavy burden on the individuals who have been able to purchase health insurance with cost-sharing reduction,” Jenkins said.

The nonprofit insurance company has kept a strong presence in the marketplace in Florida, providing coverage for close to 1 million people in all 67 counties. More than 70 percent have subsidies. But in some counties like Orange, Florida Blue has been the only provider since last year. Five insurers continue to participate in the insurance marketplace in Florida, down from eight in 2014, when Obamacare was implemented.