Chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini said in a statement that the insurer could grow its exchange business in the future “should there be meaningful exchange-related policy improvements”.
Advertisement
With health-insurance giant Aetna dropping Affordable Care Act coverage in Arizona and 10 other states next year, Pinal County residents could be left without a health-insurance marketplace option unless another insurer adds coverage to the fast-growing county.
The move also comes amid a fight between Aetna and the U.S. Justice Department over the government’s lawsuit attempting to block the company’s acquisition of insurer Humana.
Aetna stated that over 40 payers have halted the sales of plans in one or more rating areas in the individual public exchanges over the 2015 and 2016 plan years in over 30 states. The nation’s third-largest insurer said late Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, that a second-quarter pre-tax loss of $200 million from its individual insurance coverage helped it decide to limit exposure to the exchanges, which also have generated losses for UnitedHealth Group and Anthem, among other carriers.
At the time, Bertolini said that Aetna was “committed to working constructively with the administration and lawmakers to find solutions that can improve this program, stabilize the risk pool, and expand product flexibility, all with the goal of creating a sustainable program that makes health care more affordable and accessible for all consumers”. That’s better than Pinal, Arizona, which now has no exchange coverage. State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Tuesday that health insurer Aetna’s decision to drop out of the ACA marketplace came as his office was reviewing the company’s request to raise premiums by about 24 percent next year.
The Hartford-based health insurer said Monday night it will reduce its participation in health care exchanges next year to 242 counties from 778. The insurer now offers plans in 15 states including Pennsylvania.
As a strong supporter of public exchanges as a means to meet the needs of the uninsured, we regret having to make this decision.
Despite its heavy losses, Aetna has maintained that participating in Obamacare would be a good long-term investment for the company.
Recent decisions by major insurers to pull out of the healthcare exchanges are blows to President Obama’s six-year-old healthcare reform effort. But the explanation that Aetna was forced to scale back due to heavy profit cuts doesn’t square with previous statements by the company. The company has declined to say how many IL customers it serves.
Roughly 17 percent of service sector firms and roughly 21 percent of manufacturers said they were reducing the number of workers in response to the ACA, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey and the Business Leaders Survey. Only about 11 million people have signed up through the exchanges, about half as many as expected.
Advertisement
Gary Oetgen says many of his clients who have health insurance through the marketplace exchange could feel the impact after two providers are calling it quits in Georgia.
