Centene announced it will expand its health insurance plans on Florida’s Affordable Care Act exchange, alongside Florida Blue and Molina, who will also remain in the market. This week’s news comes as several insurers have pulled out of the exchange amid uncertainties about subsidies and other changes under a Republican replacement.
Centene is expanding its footprint in Florida, Georgia, Texas and a handful of other states and is entering the market for the first time in Kansas, Missouri and Nevada, while earlier this year Humana said it was pulling out due to the unstable risk pool. A spokeswoman for Molina said in an email Friday that it planned to file rates to continue offering plans in Florida next year but declined to elaborate on whether it would be expanding or shrinking their territory. Their plans are currently offered in eight Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Broward, Hillsborough and Osceola, said spokeswoman Leigh Woodward.
The Sunshine State has led the country in enrollment on the Affordable Care Act exchange with nearly 1.7 million consumers.
“Centene recognizes there is uncertainty of new health care legislation, but we are well positioned to continue providing accessible, high quality and culturally-sensitive health care services to our members,” CEO Michael F. Neidorff said in a statement.
Premium increases are likely, but the specific numbers are not available yet since insurers are not required to file their rate requests with the state until next week. The vast majority of Florida exchange consumers, more than 1.2 million, receive subsidies to help pay for their health insurance, but President Donald Trump has threatened to do away with the payments. The tremendous uncertainty has spooked some insurers out of the marketplace.
Trump, who has promised to make health care more affordable, celebrated the passage of the House health bill, but recently he’s told senators it’s too “mean,” and he’s urged lawmakers to spend more money on health care. A recent government report finds that out-of-pocket costs — deductibles and copayments — would average 61 percent higher under the House Republican bill. Premiums would be lower, but consumers would actually end up paying more on average because government financial assistance would be curtailed, according to a report this week from the Office of the Actuary, a nonpartisan economic unit at the Health and Human Services Department.
Florida Blue warned their rates would increase by an additional 20 percent on average across the state without the cost sharing reductions.
“This funding helps those who need the most help accessing high-quality and affordable care, and is a crucial element to health care reform that allows us to provide a variety of plans for current and future Florida Blue members,” the company said in a statement.
Date:June 18, 2017