According to the New York Times, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota requested rate increases averaging about 50 percent for 2016, and a vice president there said his company had not seen an improvement in the health status of new customers. “WASHINGTON — Hoping to avoid another political uproar over the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration is trying to persuade states to cut back big rate increases requested by many health insurance companies for 2016…” Read the NYT article