Health insurers in Florida have proposed higher rates for their Affordable Care Act exchange plans for 2015.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation revealed premiums could increase in the Sunshine State by an average of 13.2 percent. The percentage hike will vary based on the number of people in the family household, income, county and type of insurance policy selected.

The FLIOR noted the average monthly premium for a Silver plan ranges between $938 and $1,452 for a family of four earning $51,000.

"Even with a federal subsidy, that could mean an out-of-pocket cost of $500 or more per month to have coverage that still requires Florida families to pay about 30 [percent] of expenses out-of-pocket for deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance," noted the FLIOR.

As News-Press.com noted, a resident in Florida's Lee County earning $27,000 per year would pay $305 per month if the individual chose a "silver" plan on the ACA insurance exchange in 2015. The monthly $305 is an increase from $277, and the resident is eligible to receive a subsidy of $78.

Eight of 14 health insurance companies have submitted their premium increase proposals as of Aug. 4. The rate increase ranges from 11 percent to 23 percent. Three insurance companies, however, have filed to decrease their premium rates between 5 percent and 12 percent.

Florida's largest health insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Inc., requested an increase of nearly 18 percent for 2015. Florida Blue stated the proposed increase is based on a disproportionate share of older and sicker customers that applied under the ACA last year. The largest rate increase request came from Health First Insurance Inc., at 23 percent. The steepest decrease for rates is 12 percent from Molina Healthcare of Florida Inc.

According to the Department of Health & Human Services, Florida has the highest rate of uninsured Latinos -- 1.1 million people. Florida is the third largest state with eligible uninsured Latinos after California and Texas. Florida does not have its own state exchange and has to rely on the federal healthcare.gov website since the state's lawmakers rejected the ACA. One million Floridians have reportedly purchased a health plan on healthcare.gov,28 percent of whom are between 18 and 34 years old.

"And Florida's Hispanics are a group they really want to reach. They tend to be younger and healthier than the rest of the population, so insurers want them because they may pay into the system more than they use in services," wrote NPR's Sammy Mack. "Having healthy young people on their rolls helps insurers balance the books."

HHS will review the proposed rate increases, and the figures are subjected to change.

Meanwhile, three insurance companies will be introduced to Florida's health exchange for 2015: UnitedHealthCare, Health First Health Plans Inc. and Time Insurance Co.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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