Aetna Inc. becomes the latest health insurer to exit from Obamacare, after it announced that it will stop selling plans in the health care exchanges in 2018.
The insurance giant cites huge losses among exchange participants and predicts the troubles to worsen over the short term.
Aetna pulled out from 11 of its 15 markets this year. Its number of Obamacare policyholders fell to 255,000 in 2017 from 964,000 at the end of 2016, according to CNNMoney.
The company will also cease to offer individual plans in Nebraska and Delaware, the remaining two states where it supposed to provide coverage under Obamacare in 2018.
Aetna’s decision leaves Medica as the sole insurer on the Nebraska exchange next year, while Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield as the only carrier on the Delaware exchange.
Many major health insurers have already pulled out from health care exchanges due to mounting financial losses. Those that have remained have raised the premiums by double-digit percentages.
The Daily Caller reports:
Aetna is not the only insurance company leaving Obamacare exchanges. Humana announced in February that it will pull out of the exchanges entirely in 2018. It was the first major insurance provider to opt out of Obamacare under President Donald Trump.