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Insurers selling plans on the federally run exchange in Tennessee next year are cutting off the commissions they paid brokers for selling their products — leaving brokers short on income and wondering how to handle open enrollment, which begins Tuesday. Cigna and Humana decided not to pay individual commissions — paid per member per month they pay a premium — after BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee pulled its on- and off-exchange plans in three major metro areas for 2017. Aetna, which is selling plans off exchange across the state, also informed brokers it would not be paying individual commissions in Tennessee. (Fletcher, 10/28)

Saint Thomas Health and Cigna have reached an agreement that will put the not-for-profit health system in some 2017 health insurance plans sold on the Obamacare exchange. Saint Thomas Health was excluded from networks in individual health plans sold on the exchange after UnitedHealthcare decided to leave the state and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee exited the greater Nashville market. The two remaining carriers, Cigna and Humana contracted with TriStar Health, leaving Saint Thomas Health, Nashville General Hospital at Meharry and Vanderbilt University Medical Center out of plans sold on the exchange. (Fletcher, 10/28)

Starting on Tuesday, nearly 90,000 New Hampshire residents will have the opportunity to shop around for a better deal on health insurance, and others are expected to sign up for the first time, in the fourth open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare...By November of 2014, four more companies jumped into the online marketplace, bringing to five the number of companies offering coverage in 2015 and in 2016. But that number is about to drop to four in 2017, as Community Health Options, a Maine-based insurance cooperative (meaning its owners are technically the policy-holders), has pulled out of New Hampshire after experiencing heavy losses. (Solomon, 10/29)

Whether or not Missourians feel sticker shock when shopping for insurance coverage on HealthCare.gov this fall will depend on their income and where they live. On average, premiums are increasing in almost every county in Missouri for 2017 coverage, and they’re climbing nationwide too. About 87 percent of Missourians who purchased plans through HealthCare.gov last year received some sort of financial assistance because of their income, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And that’s the angle federal health officials keep pushing as critics say the price increases mean the Affordable Care Act is faltering. (Liss, 10/30)

Central Texans will find higher premiums and fewer insurers in the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange when open enrollment for 2017 starts Tuesday. The second-lowest premium for midlevel insurance on the federal exchange for a 27-year-old — the measure the federal government has used to compare premiums — will increase by 16 percent in Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop counties, according to information from the exchange. In Texas, premiums on average will increase by 18 percent. (Chang, 10/28)

The nation’s ever-controversial health care law suffered a black eye last week after the federal government announced that next year’s premiums for those who depend on the Affordable Care Act would increase by an average of 22 percent. But the blow won’t be as painful for most of the 1.4 million Californians who get their health coverage through Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange: The average 2017 premium increase will be 13.2 percent after two years of modest increases. (Seipel, 10/30)

Numbers released early last week show rate increases for Obamacare on the New Hampshire marketplace are lower than the national average of 22 percent. The Granite State has the second-lowest increase in the country for the "benchmark" silver plan used to compare all states - a policy for a 27-year-old male. That premium increased 2 percent between 2016 and 2017, with the monthly premium for the "benchmark" increasing from $215 a month in 2016 to $219 a month next year. But if you compare all of the individual plans offered by New Hampshire's two largest insurers, the average increase is 11.1 percent for Harvard-Pilgrim and 13.9 percent for Anthem. Abmetter and Minuteman Health also offer plans in New Hampshire. (Solomon, 10/29)

Florida won't be immune from the increases that made national headlines this week. Premiums for plans offered on and off the Affordable Care Act exchanges will rise by an average of 19 percent statewide, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. Still, advocates insist the plans will be economical. A study released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found 84 percent of Florida consumers will be able to purchase a plan with monthly premiums of $100 or less. (McGrory, 10/28)