But it only plans to offer policies in three states next year, Nevada, Virginia and NY.
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The Huffington Post and other media outlets have reported on a particularly damning bit of evidence that supports Warren’s allegations. As a result, many regions or states have been left with just one insurer on the exchanges.
Earlier this month, Mr. Bertolini said Aetna had seen double-digit cost increases from its ACA enrollees, with specialty drugs being a major driver.
An Arizona county is poised to become an Obamacare ghost town because no insurer wants to sell exchange plans.
Formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the law sought to improve access to quality healthcare by extending coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, barring insurers from denying coverage or charging higher rates to those with pre-existing conditions.
“It is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely and plan for additional business efficiencies should our deal ultimately be blocked”, Bertolini wrote in a letter to Justice Department officials in June.
Avalere President Dan Mendelson said that the decrease in competition in Obamacare plans is the result of lower-than-expected enrollment, consumers who are costing insurers a lot in health-care benefits and “troubled” programs that were meant to reduce the risk insurers face by selling coverage on the exchanges.
The exits of Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth from Affordable Care Act exchanges are limiting options for consumers and threatening to undermine one of the law’s key goals. About 11.1 million people were signed up for Obamacare plans at the end of March. Consumers in all or part of states including Georgia, North Carolina and SC may have only one insurer option when exchanges open for business next year.
“We indicated that there would indeed be an impact, which should not come as a surprise given a loss of deal synergies coupled with a potential break-up fee would raise further questions about sustaining a position in a business where we have yet to break even”, company spokesman T.J. Crawford said Wednesday. Next year, the company will offer coverage in only four states. In southeast Florida, consumers in counties near Naples and Fort Myers will have only one marketplace insurer – Florida Blue – next year, unless other insurers step in.
The Kaiser Family Foundation estimated earlier this year that about one in five US counties could be down to one health insurer on their public exchanges for next year, and about 70 percent of those markets will be rural.
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Neighboring Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is expected to have just two relatively small insurers in the area left on its marketplace next year.
