Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart has approved health insurance increases requested by three Iowa carriers, including the state’s largest health insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, The Des Moines Register reported. Wellmark received approval for rate increases of 17.6 percent to 28.7 percent on policies for approximately 137,000 individual policyholders. Gerhart also approved a 19.8 percent rate increase on average for Coventry Health Care of Iowa, the largest Iowa carrier that sells insurance policies that qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidies. Coventry’s rate increase will affect between 35,000 and 47,000 policyholders, according to the Iowa Insurance Division. The division also approved a 9.4 percent rate increase on average for Gundersen Health Plan, affecting about 60 policyholders.