Obamacare claims another victim.
Anthem Inc, a prominent national health insurance company, has decided to leave Ohio’s health insurance exchange citing a volatile market.
It’s another example of Obamacare’s collapse, especially since Anthem became “a major player in the individual insurance market created by the federal health care law.” From The New York Times:
Ohio state insurance officials said they were reviewing their options but put the blame squarely on the federal health care law. “For the past few years we have seen a weakening in the federal insurance marketplace as a number of companies have withdrawn from the exchange,” the state agency said in a statement. “We have always argued the private insurance market is the most severely impacted by the federal law and that is where Congressional action is needed to restore stability.”
Anthem has not made a decision to pull out of other states yet. But without Anthem, at least 18 counties in Ohio will not have “available ACA marketplace plans.” The Wall Street Journal reported:
In announcing the decision, Anthem said that setting prices and making decisions about ACA plans has become “increasingly difficult due to the shrinking individual market as well as continual changes in federal operations, rules and guidance.” The insurer said the market remains “volatile,” and it cited the uncertainty surrounding key issues including federal payments that help reduce costs for low-income ACA enrollees.
The insurer said an “increasing lack of overall predictability simply does not provide a sustainable path forward to provide affordable plan choices for consumers.”
The company “has filed 2018 ACA plans” in Virginia, Maine, and Connecticut. It can still cancel those plans, though.