08-16-2016, 10:55 AM
Story And they're not the only ones to drop exchanges.
"Aetna's announcement comes two weeks after the company booked $200 million in ACA-related pre-tax losses in its Q2 earnings report and nearly one month after the Department of Justice's anti-trust division sued to block the health insurer's acquisition of rival Humana (HUM).
Humana has also announced it will cut back sharply from the exchanges. Their pullback, in the wake of UnitedHealth (UNH)'s departure from all but a handful of exchanges, means that hundreds of thousands of Obamacare plan members will no longer have access to plans from the nation's three major insurers in 2017."
This is something I actually wondered about when the whole idea came about. The government can threaten people with fines and whatnot for not enrolling in a health care plan, but what about insurance companies who don't want to participate, especially because they're losing money hand over fist?
Aetna CEO Marc Bertolini said this, "the problem is that ACA plan members tend to incur high medical costs, while the federal risk adjustment program meant to offset losses on those members has not been adequate. As a result, many insurers are losing money on the exchanges.
"More than 40 (health insurance) payers of various sizes have similarly chosen to stop selling plans in one or more rating areas in the individual public exchanges over the 2015 and 2016 plan years, collectively exiting hundreds of rating areas in more than 30 states," he said.
HHS officials said despite Aetna's abrupt exit from 11 state exchange markets, Obamacare will still have a choice of three or more plans in many of those markets next year.
In Texas, there will still be nearly a dozen health insurers offering plans on the exchange, while in Ohio there will still be 10 insurers on the exchange for 2017. In Georgia, where both Aetna and UnitedHealth are pulling out of the state exchange, five health insurers right now plan to offer ACA plans in 2017.
And what do the folks who live in this area where there won't be options? What is the government/IRS going to do to them? They can't have what isn't available.
But in some cases, competition will be greatly reduced. In Arizona, where Aetna and United are both pulling out, the state's Blue Cross Blue Shield provider is cutting back in some counties. If state officials can't convince any of the insurers to stay, analysts say some counties could be left with no exchange plan coverage next year.
My husband and I are fortunate enough to have insurance through his employer but who knows how long that will last. We just found out that, thanks to Obamacare, they will no longer offer retirees a health care package beginning next fiscal year, which for them begins in July. And it's not a freebie, the retirees do pay a monthly premium though it's not as much as working employees. If they are willing to do this they might decide to not offer employees coverage at some point.
BCBS, the largest health insurer in NC is looking to increase their rates by 34%, up from 25% they were considering in June. The reason for their increase is the same as Aetna's for dropping exchanges.....This from the News & Observer here in NC:
"Blue Cross continues to see a large number of chronically ill people who require expensive medical care this year, the second year of ACA enrollments, said Patrick Getzen, the insurer’s chief actuary. The ACA made it illegal for health insurers to turn down people with pre-existing conditions and charge older customers exorbitant rates, common practices in the past that helped insurers control their expenses.
That's all well and good but here's the rub....the reason it's failing miserably.
The architects of the health insurance law anticipated an influx of older, sicker customers, but expected that the cost of treating them would be offset by attracting younger and healthier customers. That hasn’t worked out for Blue Cross so far, despite the company’s marketing campaign to attract “young invincibles” and federal penalties for those who fail to obtain health insurance."
NC is also one of the states being dropped by Aetna in 2017 regarding exchanges. I imagine if enough companies drop exchanges, at some point Obamacare is going to implode. Sorry for the longer than planned rant. If you made it to this point I thank you.
I have been taking a medical billing and coding course and near the end and am learning about insurance companies, federal and state funded ones in detail, and others on a basic level. With all of the federal and state funded programs that covers a large number of folks there was no need for the government to step in and 'help' anyone.
In fact, the people they're trying to 'help' are the ones getting screwed over the most. There is nothing affordable about any of it and health care costs are not being controlled at all. I appreciate that insurance companies can no longer deny folks who have preexisting conditions and that all insurance must have mental health as part of the package, but the rest of it is worthless. The few good things about it could have been mandated into the insurance world without going full [BLEEP] with the rest.
"Aetna's announcement comes two weeks after the company booked $200 million in ACA-related pre-tax losses in its Q2 earnings report and nearly one month after the Department of Justice's anti-trust division sued to block the health insurer's acquisition of rival Humana (HUM).
Humana has also announced it will cut back sharply from the exchanges. Their pullback, in the wake of UnitedHealth (UNH)'s departure from all but a handful of exchanges, means that hundreds of thousands of Obamacare plan members will no longer have access to plans from the nation's three major insurers in 2017."
This is something I actually wondered about when the whole idea came about. The government can threaten people with fines and whatnot for not enrolling in a health care plan, but what about insurance companies who don't want to participate, especially because they're losing money hand over fist?
Aetna CEO Marc Bertolini said this, "the problem is that ACA plan members tend to incur high medical costs, while the federal risk adjustment program meant to offset losses on those members has not been adequate. As a result, many insurers are losing money on the exchanges.
"More than 40 (health insurance) payers of various sizes have similarly chosen to stop selling plans in one or more rating areas in the individual public exchanges over the 2015 and 2016 plan years, collectively exiting hundreds of rating areas in more than 30 states," he said.
HHS officials said despite Aetna's abrupt exit from 11 state exchange markets, Obamacare will still have a choice of three or more plans in many of those markets next year.
In Texas, there will still be nearly a dozen health insurers offering plans on the exchange, while in Ohio there will still be 10 insurers on the exchange for 2017. In Georgia, where both Aetna and UnitedHealth are pulling out of the state exchange, five health insurers right now plan to offer ACA plans in 2017.
And what do the folks who live in this area where there won't be options? What is the government/IRS going to do to them? They can't have what isn't available.
But in some cases, competition will be greatly reduced. In Arizona, where Aetna and United are both pulling out, the state's Blue Cross Blue Shield provider is cutting back in some counties. If state officials can't convince any of the insurers to stay, analysts say some counties could be left with no exchange plan coverage next year.
My husband and I are fortunate enough to have insurance through his employer but who knows how long that will last. We just found out that, thanks to Obamacare, they will no longer offer retirees a health care package beginning next fiscal year, which for them begins in July. And it's not a freebie, the retirees do pay a monthly premium though it's not as much as working employees. If they are willing to do this they might decide to not offer employees coverage at some point.
BCBS, the largest health insurer in NC is looking to increase their rates by 34%, up from 25% they were considering in June. The reason for their increase is the same as Aetna's for dropping exchanges.....This from the News & Observer here in NC:
"Blue Cross continues to see a large number of chronically ill people who require expensive medical care this year, the second year of ACA enrollments, said Patrick Getzen, the insurer’s chief actuary. The ACA made it illegal for health insurers to turn down people with pre-existing conditions and charge older customers exorbitant rates, common practices in the past that helped insurers control their expenses.
That's all well and good but here's the rub....the reason it's failing miserably.
The architects of the health insurance law anticipated an influx of older, sicker customers, but expected that the cost of treating them would be offset by attracting younger and healthier customers. That hasn’t worked out for Blue Cross so far, despite the company’s marketing campaign to attract “young invincibles” and federal penalties for those who fail to obtain health insurance."
NC is also one of the states being dropped by Aetna in 2017 regarding exchanges. I imagine if enough companies drop exchanges, at some point Obamacare is going to implode. Sorry for the longer than planned rant. If you made it to this point I thank you.
I have been taking a medical billing and coding course and near the end and am learning about insurance companies, federal and state funded ones in detail, and others on a basic level. With all of the federal and state funded programs that covers a large number of folks there was no need for the government to step in and 'help' anyone.
In fact, the people they're trying to 'help' are the ones getting screwed over the most. There is nothing affordable about any of it and health care costs are not being controlled at all. I appreciate that insurance companies can no longer deny folks who have preexisting conditions and that all insurance must have mental health as part of the package, but the rest of it is worthless. The few good things about it could have been mandated into the insurance world without going full [BLEEP] with the rest.
![[Image: a19e777329b8547e6250457d2740620a.jpg]](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a1/9e/77/a19e777329b8547e6250457d2740620a.jpg)