Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Aetna Drops Obamacare In Most States. The No. 3 U.S. health insurer cited financial losses as a reason for dropping the plans.

Reuters reports:
Aetna Inc, the No. 3 U.S. health insurer, on Monday said that due to persistent financial losses on Obamacare plans, it will sell individual insurance on the government-run online marketplaces in only four states next year, down from the current 15 states.

Aetna’s decision follows similar moves from UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Humana Inc., which have cited similar concerns about financial losses on these exchanges created under President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law.

Aetna is also trying to buy Humana and is currently fighting a U.S. government lawsuit aimed at blocking the $34 billion deal.

Aetna, which earlier this year said it was too soon to give up on the exchanges despite its challenges, this month signaled it was reconsidering. On Aug. 2, the company said it would not expand in 2017 and would review all its individual business.

Many insurers last year had said they expected to profit on the exchanges, but now say more exchange rules must be changed for it to be sustainable. Only about 11 million people have signed up through the exchanges, about half as many as expected.
This is what Barack Obama says is working better than expected!