Anthem, An ACA Stalwart, Will Pull Out Of Two More States Citing Volatile Marketplace
Although Anthem is withdrawing from some marketplaces, other companies are diving in. Media outlets look at the results of Wednesday's deadline for insurers to submit initial federal applications to offer 2018 marketplace plans.
Bloomberg:
Anthem, Obamacare Stalwart, Pulls Out Of Two More States
Anthem Inc., the stalwart that has stuck with Obamacare longer than most other large health insurers, is shrinking its participation in the program and pulling out of two more states’ marketplaces. Anthem announced its exit from Wisconsin and Indiana on Wednesday, the deadline in many states for U.S. insurers to file their premium rates if they wish to participate in the Affordable Care Act next year. The insurer said it will leave the two individual insurance markets because uncertainty has become too great to continue offering plans. (Tracer and Edney, 6/21)
Reuters:
Anthem To Reduce Obamacare Offerings In Wisconsin, Indiana
The largest U.S. health insurer, which sells Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states including New York and California, for months has said that uncertainty over the payments used to make insurance more affordable could cause it to exit markets. (Grover, 6/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Anthem Says It Will Stop Offering ACA Plans In Two More States As Others Raise Their Bets
Anthem cited a volatile insurance market in its latest pullback announcement, and it said that planning and pricing for ACA plans “has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance,” including around the cost-sharing payments. The company previously said it would stop selling marketplace plans in Ohio next year. (Wilde Mathews, 6/21)
USA Today/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Anthem To Stop Selling Obamacare Plans In Wisconsin
Anthem said its decision does not affect its health plans for employers, its Medicare Advantage plans or Medicaid plans. It also will continue to renew its so-called transitional plans that were sold before March 2010 and December 2013. Those plans, which are not available to new customers, cover about 4,500 people in Wisconsin. (Boulton and Romell, 6/21)
The Hill:
Anthem To End ObamaCare Plans In Indiana, Wisconsin
Anthem will pull out of the ObamaCare exchanges in Indiana and Wisconsin next year, the insurance giant announced Wednesday. Anthem cited uncertainty surrounding how the Trump administration will handle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as one reason for leaving. (Hellmann, 6/21)
The Hill:
Insurer Startup To Enter Five ObamaCare Exchanges
An insurance startup is expanding its reach in five state ObamaCare exchanges amid uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act's future. In a blog post, the insurance startup Oscar said it was working in the states because it sees a business opportunity despite turmoil surrounding former President Obama’s signature law, which Republicans are seeking to repeal. (Roubein, 6/21)
Bloomberg:
Oscar To Enter Tennessee's Obamacare Market In 2018
Oscar Insurance Corp. plans to begin selling health plans on the Obamacare marketplace in Tennessee in 2018 and expand its offerings in other states where it’s already operating. The closely held insurer will expand into new areas of Texas and California, according to a blog post Wednesday by Mario Schlosser, the chief executive officer. The company will also return to the New Jersey market that it earlier dropped. (Lauerman and Tracer, 6/21)
San Antonio Express-News:
Kushner Family’s Oscar Health Expands Coverage Beyond Bexar
Insurance company Oscar Health announced Wednesday that it will expand coverage to surrounding and nearby counties, bucking a national trend of insurers scaling back coverage amid uncertainty surrounding federal health care policy changes. Oscar Health was founded in 2012 by Joshua Kushner, brother to President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, and has a market value of around $2.7 billion. (Pound, 6/21)
KCUR:
18,000 Could Lose Health Coverage In Missouri’s ‘Bare Counties,’ As State Faces Tough Choices
Next year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City will leave the individual health care marketplace in Missouri that was set up under the Affordable Care Act. And when it does, about 18,000 patients in 25 western Missouri counties will lose their health insurance. If those enrollees sign on to Healthcare.gov this fall to buy a replacement plan, they may have no options to choose from. That's because those 25 counties could become "bare." If that happens, Missouri will be the first state to have bare counties since the health care exchanges were established in 2013. Insurance companies leaving the marketplace, coupled with uncertainty over the health law’s future, have left thousands of Missourians who buy insurance on their own in a “wait and see” mode. Although other states have coaxed insurance companies to stay, Missouri’s regulators have not publicly shared their plans to rectify the situation. (Bouscaren, 6/21)
Denver Post:
No Insurers Leaving Colorado Health Exchange In 2018, Commissioner Says
After months of worry, Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar said Wednesday that no insurers are backing out of the state’s health care exchange for 2018, but consumers in the individual insurance market should expect to pay more. Salazar said nine companies filed plans with the state this week to offer individual insurance plans in 2018. That includes all seven insurers currently offering plans on Connect for Health Colorado, the state’s health insurance marketplace where all the plans sold meet Affordable Care Act requirements and are eligible for federal tax credits to help pay the premiums. (Ingold, 6/21)
The Baltimore Sun:
State Considers Rate Increases On The Health Exchange As Another Insurer Drops Out
As s U.S. Senate leaders prepare to unveil their plan to remake the Affordable Care Act over time, Maryland officials must press ahead with the system as it stands for hundreds of thousands of residents. The Maryland Insurance Administration held its first hearing Wednesday on the large rate increases being sought by three insurance carriers selling health plans to individuals on the state exchange. The hearing came as another carrier decided to pull out of the market. Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. follows UnitedHealthcare, which stopped selling plans last year. (Cohn, 6/21)
Nashville Tennessean:
Farm Bureau Health Plans To Drop ACA Options In 2018, Cites Unsustainable Financials
Farm Bureau Health Plans will not sell individual Affordable Care Act insurance next year as a surge in 2017 membership threatens the company with heavy losses. The company covered 25,046 Tennesseans with its ACA-compliant plans as of the end of May. The company projects it could lose more than $15 million on those members by the end of 2017, according to a letter it sent to the state's insurance commissioner dated June 21. But the losses are only one factor in its decision. (Fletcher, 6/21)
