HHS: Florida Exchange Shows Significant Choices, Lower-Than-Expected Premiums

Florida consumers buying health plans through the state exchange have a large number of policies available to them for lower-than-expected monthly premiums, according to HHS.

Florida residents have an average of 102 health plans to choose from in the marketplace established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a news release. Additionally, the average monthly premium for the lowest-cost silver plan is $304. The average national premium for the second-lowest-cost silver plan is $328 before tax credits, 16 percent below projections based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, according to HHS.

The average per person monthly premium in Florida's individual insurance market was $178 in 2010, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Earlier this year, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation said health insurance premiums in the state could increase by up to 40 percent for individuals and up to 20 percent for small businesses once the PPACA marketplaces took effect. In response, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and researchers from the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy dismissed those projections as inaccurate.

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