Losses incurred during the first few years of the Affordable Care Act's implementation are driving some big health plans to seek substantial premium increases in 2017 for individual plans sold through the insurance exchanges of more than a dozen states, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Large health plans in some states, including New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia, are requesting to increase rates by 20 percent or more, according to the insurers' filings with regulators, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In other states, such as Florida and Maryland, insurers are seeking premium hikes of more than 10 percent. Among the insurers that have published their 2017 requests, only in Vermont have large insurers put forth requests that are under 10 percent, according to the report.
Insurers' proposals still have to gain approval by state regulators, and a detailed picture of final approved rates across the country will probably not be revealed until shortly before Nov. 1, when HealthCare.gov and state marketplaces reopen for the ACA's fourth open enrollment period.
Even so, the proposed increases made public so far illustrate how insurers are responding to the ways the ACA has changed how healthcare coverage is priced and sold in the U.S., according to the report.