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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield said Wednesday that rate increases it requested from the Maryland Insurance Commission earlier this year are not enough to cover costs for its exchange-based plans and that it needs even larger ones. The state's largest insurer asked the commission in May to allow it to increase rates by 12 percent for the HMO plans it sells on the state's online marketplace and by 30 percent for PPO plans. The rate proposals are for individual plans with coverage beginning Jan. 1. The insurer refiled its request Tuesday and is now asking for a 27.8 percent increase on its HMO plans and a 36.6 percent increase on its PPO plans. (McDaniels, 7/27)

Saying their own costs have risen, health insurance companies made their cases to state regulators Wednesday for double-digit rate increases next year for individual policies in Pennsylvania. The requests before the Insurance Department include proposed average rate increases of 17.2 percent for Aetna Health Inc., 25.4 percent to 48.1 percent for Highmark companies, 0.9 percent to 16.2 percent for UPMC companies, and 19.9 percent to 22.5 percent for Independence Blue Cross companies, according to the department. (Langley, 7/28)