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Healthy State tells the stories you need to know to stay well, with a special focus on Florida.We'll bring you the latest fitness trends, new research on preventing and treating disease, and information about how health policy impacts your pocketbook.We report on health using all the tools at our disposal -- video, audio, photos and text -- to bring these stories to life.Healthy State is a project of WUSF Public Media in Tampa and is heard on public radio stations throughout Florida. It also is available online at wusfnews.org.

Chart: See How Much Health Individual Insurance May Rise In 2018

WMFE

The federal government released more details Wednesday about how much health insurance rates could increase next year in Florida — and the spike could be dramatic for some.

For individuals buying plans on  exchanges, the increase is 17.8 percent on average. But now the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have released a breakdown of all the different polices in Florida, and how much each of those plans will go up.

Of the 58 plans offered by eight insurance companies, the increases range from less than 2 percent on the small side to 137 percent at the highest. But that includes plans with small numbers of people.

Looking just at insurers who had more than 10,000 Obamacare individual customers in 2015, Cigna stands out with a proposed rate increase of 83 percent. In documents, they say medical costs are going up, and people are sicker.

Molina Healthcare is asking for a 37- to 44-percent hike next year, while AvMed wants a 38- to 43- percent hike. On the lower end, Health Options, an affiliate of Florida Blue, is asking for a 6- to 11- percent increase. Florida Blue, the state’s largest insurer by far, is asking for rates to go up on its plans anywhere from 9 to 24 percent.

Insurers are also keeping a wary eye on Washington, where President Donald Trump has  threatened to cut cost-sharing reductions for health insurance. If that happens,  expect rates to go up even higher.

Nationwide, 19 counties with more than 13,000 are expected to have zero insurance companies selling Obamacare plans next year,  while more than 2.3 million people in 40 percent of counties will have just one insurance company selling.

Check here to .

Copyright 2017 Health News Florida

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.
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