Posted on 08/11/2017 11:42:33 PM PDT by Altura Ct.
Just weeks before the 2018 Obamacare open enrollment period is set to begin, Virginia's largest health insurer has pulled of the individual marketplace.
Anthem is leaving the system, citing overwhelming costs and unstable markets. More from Forbes:
“Today, planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating Individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage,” Anthem said in a statement Friday afternoon. “As a result, the continued uncertainty makes it difficult for us to offer Individual health plans statewide in Virginia.”
Effective in January of 2018, Anthem said it will "not participate on the individual exchange in Virginia and will reduce its plan offering and will only offer off-exchange plans in Washington and Scott Counties and the city of Bristol, VA."
The news comes as Republicans struggle to find a solution to the Obamacare disaster and failed to get a "skinny repeal" of the legislation through the Senate in July. President Trump has repeatedly called on Republican leadership to revisit the issue in order to fulfill the longtime promise of repeal and replace.
Earlier this year Virginia's other major insurer, Aetna, also pulled out of the market.
Aetna is throwing in the towel in Virginia after suffering big losses in its Obamacare business.
The company said Wednesday that it won't participate in the state's individual market -- either on the Obamacare exchange or outside of it -- in 2018. Though it has greatly downsized its participation in Obamacare, Aetna (AET) said it could still lose more than $200 million in its individual market products this year. That's on top of the nearly $700 million it's lost in the three years after the exchanges opened in 2014.
““Today, planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating Individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage,” “
Wait a minute. Shrinking deteriorating individual market? How can it be shrinking when people are forced to buy insurance? Are they really suggesting that people are paying the fine instead of buying insurance? And what is this about cost sharing subsidies? Trump hasn’t done anything about that so if this is true it had to happen under Obama.
Maybe what needs to happen is Trump brings all the insurance company CEO’s to Washington, find out what is really going on and then put together a plan to stop the madness.
Another one bites the dust.
Good. As poster above said let it burn
Anthem is leaving the system, citing overwhelming costs and unstable markets.
All thank you cards must be sent to the democrat party only.
Obama is not around to fill their back pockets with cash anymore
They almost got what they wanted (millions of involuntary customers paying top dollar for insurance they couldn’t even use because the deductibles and co-pays would bankrupt them); they thought it would work because they had the might of the IRS behind them.
Of course the government is the problem; it used the IRS to force millions of Americans to pay a new tax to health insurance companies.
Record profits? Apparently you didn’t major in business. If these companies are getting record profits, they wouldn’t be dropping out and no longer offering policies.
Who wants to bet me that our GOP Congress will vote for a single payer plan as soon as Obama care fails?
Washington and Scott Counties are red counties.
Take that Terry McAwful, Bop, splat, whack!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/business/health-insurers-profit.html
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/15/news/economy/health-insurers-profits-obamacare/index.html
https://www.axios.com/profits-are-booming-at-health-insurance-companies-2418194773.html
Explain to me why an insurance company that could make millions by staying in a given market would chose to withdraw, thereby losing profits, having stock prices drop, and having to fire employees - all on purpose?
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