Report: Florida Blue Could Raise Rates

July 22, 2014

Major insurer Florida Blue could raise rates in 2015 for people enrolled through the federal health-care exchange after seeing a large number of older and sicker enrollees, Kaiser Health News reported Monday.

Patrick Geraghty, chief executive officer of the Jacksonville-based insurer, said it remains committed to the individual health-insurance market. But Geraghty told Kaiser Health News that rates also could be affected by such factors as a relative lack of younger and healthier enrollees.

“We will be under tremendous financial pressure initially given the age, risk profile and high utilization of the new membership,” he said. “It is far from clear that large enrollment in the marketplace is a financially beneficial place to be.”

Kaiser Health News said Florida Blue, which formerly was known as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, would not disclose its proposed 2015 rates. That proposal was submitted to state regulators last month.

Florida Blue added 339,000 customers through the Affordable Care Act’s federal marketplace this year, according to Kaiser Health News.

Comments

2 Responses to “Report: Florida Blue Could Raise Rates”

  1. Bill Z. on July 23rd, 2014 11:14 pm

    My wife was fighting cancer for two years before the cancer won. I would not have been able to give her a fighting chance if it wasn’t for Florida Blue! She was able to enjoy our Grandson and two daughters right up till the end. I can’t imagine how life would have been without having Florida Blue coverage. Thank you Florida Blue for being there when we needed you!!

  2. northender43 on July 22nd, 2014 6:54 am

    FloridaBlue is afraid that their profits will go down and they won’t get their BIG bonuses.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News