Two more companies are seeking to enter Florida’s Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges in 2020.

The new carriers are Bright Health Insurance Co. of Florida and Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company participated in Florida’s exchange in previous years, so it seems as if they see a way to profit from participating again.

In February, Florida had 1.67 million Obamacare enrollees — an increase of 73,329 over the previous year — while overall enrollment declined in the 38 other states that use the federal exchange. About 800,000 enrollees live in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In all, 10 companies are seeking approval in Florida to offer products that meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, according to a statement by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Of them, nine companies want to sell on the federal exchange in Florida, which would make their plans eligible for financial assistance for low-income policyholders. Last year, seven companies were approved to sell on the exchange.

Returning companies are seeking rate increases that average 1.2 percent overall, according to state regulators. That’s far less than the 8.8 percent sought for 2019 and the 17.8 percent requested for 2018.

Insurers offering Obamacare plans enjoyed increased profits in 2018 and are continuing to make money so far in 2019 as costs have leveled off, according to a June 27 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

But uncertainty remains. All eyes are on the appeal of a December 2018 Texas district court ruling the entire Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. If the ruling is not reversed, the law would be invalidated and the $55 billion in federal subsidies and tax credits that keep plans affordable for low-income policyholders would likely disappear, Baumgarten said.

A final ruling likely won’t happen before 2020, meaning consumers will still be able to buy coverage for 2020 during the next open enrollment, which runs Nov. 1 to Dec. 15.

Florida is among seven states that Minnesota-based Bright Health, founded in 2016, wants to enter next year. Currently the company offers plans in just six states.

Bright Health is proposing to offer plans in Jacksonville, Pensacola, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Tampa and Palm Beach, but not Miami-Dade or Broward counties, according to a company spokesman.

Cigna has not yet announced which Florida markets it wants to enter, nor has it given any assurances it will follow through on its proposal to compete on the federal exchange in the state.

Just three of the seven companies planning to return to Florida’s Obamacare exchange offered plans in the tri-county region in 2018 — market leader Florida Blue, with a wide range of plans, and narrow network insurers Molina Healthcare and Ambetter, owned by Centene.

It’s not yet clear whether all three will again offer plans in the tri-county region in 2020. Proposals submitted to state insurance regulators in June in most cases exclude from public access details such as where the companies want to offer insurance plans. Insurers don’t have to finalize those decisions until just before open enrollment begins on Nov. 1.

Florida Blue has consistently offered plans in all 67 Florida counties, while Centene this month announced plans to expand to additional territories in Florida and nine other states.