Insurers seek increases

Health insurers have requested rate changes for individual plans that will be offered this fall on New Jersey's Affordable Care Act marketplace, according to data posted Monday on HealthCare.gov.

The biggest requested increase was from Oxford Health Insurance Inc., a unit of UnitedHealthcare. Its Oxford NJ EPO (exclusive provider organization) asked for an average rate increase of 32.3 percent, which would affect an estimated 3,441 people.

The state's largest insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, requested increases for individual plans ranging from slightly less than 1 percent for its basic catastrophic plan to 7.55 percent for an Advantage exclusive provider plan.

AmeriHealth Insurance Co. of New Jersey, a unit of Independence Blue Cross, requested increases of 26 percent and 12 percent for individual offerings, which would affect an estimated 64,000 people.

- Harold Brubaker