Aetna Announces Withdrawal from 11 of 15 ACA Marketplaces

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CareFirst isn’t the only insurer requesting unprecedented double digit rate increases. Many insurers are simply leaving the marketplace altogether or drastically reducing their involvement, citing enormous financial losses.

On Tuesday, Aetna announced that it too, will walk away from more than two-thirds of the exchange markets it participated in this year. Aetna will maintain a presence in just four states – Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia – down from 15 states this year. Aetna’s withdrawal means that in at least one county in Arizona with nearly 10,000 enrollees, there will be no ACA insurers or products available.

Other providers leaving, or reducing participation in the market include:

  • UnitedHealthcare: Will exit most exchanges this fall.
  • Anthem: Said it’s now losing money on the exchanges, after previously breaking even.
  • Cigna: Warned that its Obamacare costs are rising, but said it will continue to participate.
  • Humana: Announced its exit from most exchanges this fall.

At Monday’s MIA hearing, Chet Burrell, CareFirst CEO, cited concerns that the Maryland ACA marketplace could be left with just two providers, CareFirst and Kaiser Permanente, given the uncertainty surrounding the potential Anthem/Cigna merger and Evergreen’s risk adjustment lawsuit.

Voices are cautioning that this is not a doomsday scenario, but rather reasonable and not unexpected shifts in the marketplace as it reacts to a new and complex law affecting millions in diverse insurance markets. An OpEd in yesterday’s New York Times calls for ongoing reforms to ACA, and Bloomberg’s Megan McArdle presents a reasoned piece outlining eight different scenarios for the future outcome of the ACA – all of which are hopeful.