Â鶹ŮÓÅ

Major insurers in some states are proposing hefty rate boosts for plans sold under the federal health law, setting the stage for an intense debate this summer over the law’s impact. In New Mexico, market leader Health Care Service Corp. is asking for an average jump of 51.6% in premiums for 2016. The biggest insurer in Tennessee, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, has requested an average 36.3% increase. In Maryland, market leader CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield wants to raise rates 30.4% across its products. Moda Health, the largest insurer on the Oregon health exchange, seeks an average boost of around 25%. (Radnofsky, 5/21)

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is proposing to raise rates by almost 43 percent for its South Dakota members who've signed up for individual Affordable Care Act health plans outside of the federal health care exchange. Wellmark is the largest private health insurer in the state. About 14,000 South Dakotans have ACA-compliant plans through the company. (Burbach, 5/21)

Vermont officials are considering turning to Connecticut’s health insurance exchange as an alternative to that state’s struggling Obamacare marketplace. Officials in Vermont have given the state’s exchange, Vermont Health Connect, deadlines to make improvements; the first one comes at the end of this month. But if those deadlines aren’t met, state officials are expected to explore alternatives, including using the federal government’s HealthCare.gov exchange. (Levin Becker, 5/21)