In Indiana, for instance, four insurers—MDwise, Coordinated Care, Physicians Health Plan of Northern Indiana and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield—will offer plans on the state exchange, pending final HHS approval, said Dennis Rosebrough, a spokesman for the state's department of insurance. But 31 of the state's 92 counties will have offerings from only one of those insurers. Thirty-five counties will have offerings from two issuers.
Seventeen insurers in Indiana's individual market have exited since March 2010 because HHS refused to exempt insurers from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's medical-loss ratio rule through 2014, Rosebrough said. Stephen Robertson, the state's insurance commissioner, had told HHS that not granting the exemption would severely limit consumer choice of health plans. HHS replied that it did not find a reasonable likelihood that the medical-loss ratio would destabilize the state's insurance market.
In Florida, 11 insurers, including Cigna Corp. and Humana, have sought qualified health plan certification. Twenty-one of the state's 67 counties, however, will have only one company offering health plans on the individual market, according to the state's office of insurance regulation.
Molina Healthcare, a Long Beach, Calif.-based managed-care insurer operating in Florida, will offer plans in only three heavily populated South Florida counties—Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach—but plans to expand to other counties in 2015, said Steve Snider, Molina's director for membership growth. “I think it will build momentum as people get less afraid and grasp it for what it is,” Snider said of the state's exchange.
Florida Blue, on the other hand, will offer plans in all the state's counties, said Mark Wright, a company spokesman. The company has ramped up its outreach efforts with retail centers in strip malls where consumers can seek out information.
