Florida Blue's 2027 Rate Filing: 26% on the Blue Cross Side, 9.8% on the Health Options HMO Side, and What a Healthy Household Can Do

Florida Blue is where a large share of Floridians start, because its reach covers the whole state and its name is on the hospital signs. It is also the carrier whose 2027 renewal letters will vary the most, because the two companies behind the brand filed two very different numbers.

The two numbers, and where they come from

Two cautions before you do any math. First, Florida treats carriers' actuarial memos as trade secrets, so the public filings show an average and little else; nobody outside the carrier and the regulator can tell you what a specific plan in a specific county does. Second, an average increase is a blend across every plan the entity sells. Your plan can be above or below it. The number that matters is the one on the letter that arrives in October, and the number next to it that nobody sends you, which is what the same coverage costs across the rest of the county menu.

Why one brand filed two numbers

Florida Blue's PPO-style products are issued by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Inc. Its HMO products are issued by Health Options, Inc. They are priced as separate companies with separate claims experience, which is how a 26% request and a 9.8% request can sit under the same logo. For a household that has been on the Blue Cross side, that gap is the first thing to look at: a Health Options HMO at the same metal level may be the cheapest way to stay with Florida Blue, at the cost of a narrower network and HMO rules. Whether that trade is worth it depends on the hospital you use, and that is a directory check, not a guess.

What it means for your renewal letter

• The premium on the letter is the full 2027 rate before any credit. It already includes whatever the regulator approved, on top of the 31.5% average increase Florida took for 2026.
• Under the credit line, about $63,840 for one person and $132,000 for a family of four for 2027 coverage, the premium tax credit absorbs most of the increase, because the credit is tied to the benchmark plan's price. Update your income first, then compare.
• Above the line, you pay every dollar of it, and a 26% increase on an already full-price plan is the point at which a healthy household should stop renewing by default.
• "Renewed automatically" means the same plan at the new rate, not that the plan is still your best option.

Five moves before December 15

1. Compare the two Florida Blue sides. If you are on a Blue Cross PPO-style plan, price the Health Options HMO at the same tier and check whether your doctors are in its network.
2. Pull the whole county menu. Other carriers' 2027 requests in the public filings ranged from Oscar at about 4.2% and AvMed at 9.8% to UnitedHealthcare at 30.2% and AmeriHealth Caritas at 39.1%, with Capital Health Plan, Florida Health Care Plan, Health First, and Simply Healthcare in between. Availability is by county, so not all of them file where you live.
3. Check the network before the premium. Florida Blue's statewide reach is the reason many people stay. If the cheaper plan's network stops at the county line and you do not, it is not cheaper.
4. If everyone is healthy and you are above the credit line, get a medically underwritten quote the same week. It prices on your health rather than the pool, can be applied for any month, and often costs a healthy household less than full Marketplace price. It can decline or exclude conditions and is not ACA-compliant, so it belongs next to the Marketplace number, not instead of it.
5. Enroll by December 15 for a January 1 start. Open enrollment runs November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027, but later enrollments begin February 1.

The rest of the 2027 Florida picture

Cigna is leaving the Florida Marketplace, Sunshine State Health Plan members are moving to Ambetter, and the filing review at ACA Signups and the KFF tracker, as reported by the Florida Phoenix, list Molina Healthcare of Florida and Community Care Network (22 Health) as leaving as well. Fewer carriers on the county menu makes the comparison faster, not less necessary. Our 2027 Florida carrier guide has the full lineup.

If you want one licensed Florida broker to read your Florida Blue renewal with you, price both sides of the brand against the county menu, and run the underwritten quote at the same time, start on our Florida self-employed page. One call, real numbers, never sold.

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