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Aetna chief executive Mark Bertolini said Wednesday that the Affordable Care Act's exchanges - the marketplaces where consumers can buy individual health coverage under President Barack Obama's signature health-care law - are in a "death spiral." [Snip] "My anticipation would be that in '18, we'll see a lot of markets without any coverage at all," Bertolini said. Representatives of the Health and Human Services Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Because of market turmoil and decisions by United Healthcare and Aetna to withdraw from Affordable Care Act exchanges in Pennsylvania for 2017, the remaining insurer in the Philadelphia area, Independence Blue Cross, has been granted bigger rate increase — 28 percent — than it requested in the spring, the state Insurance Department said Monday. Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller said additional companies beyond United and Aetna were considering ending their ACA individual-exchange businesses in Pennsylvania. If that happened, some counties might have been left without any offerings on the exchange, which is where individuals have to buy plans to qualify for...

Insurance company Aetna today announced a major health initiative centered on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, which will see Aetna subsidizing the cost of the Apple Watch for both large employers and individual customers. Starting this fall during open enrollment season, Aetna will subsidize "a signficant portion" of the Apple Watch cost and will offer monthly payroll deductions to cover the remaining cost. apple watch series 2 Aetna also plans to provide Apple Watches at no cost to all of its nearly 50,000 employees as part of a wellness reimbursement program to encourage them to live healthier lives. "We...

Nearly a third of U.S. counties will be left with just one insurance option next year on the ObamaCare exchanges, according to a new analysis fueling warnings about the impact of the insurance company exodus from markets across the country. The Kaiser Family Foundation study found residents in Pinal County, Ariz., are even at risk of having no insurance options on the exchanges, which provide subsidized plans. Republicans seized on the report Monday to claim that the health care overhaul is not providing the choices promised by President Obama and others. […] The Kaiser Family Foundation study found that overall,...

With Aetna’s announcement that it is pulling out of most government-run exchanges, Obamacare's death spiral has begun to accelerate. Few but the sickest or most heavily subsidized people want anything to do with the (inaptly named) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's high-priced, high-deductible, narrow-network plans. Insurers are responding to sicker risk pools and bigger losses by raising rates, which makes the plans even less attractive to the young and healthy—which makes the risk pools sicker, which makes the rates rise further. And the spiral continues, like water circling the drain. No less of an Obamacare cheerleader than the New...

Cox told Business Insider that the situation in Pinal County will likely raise calls for a public option, or a government-run health insurance option similar to Medicare or Medicaid.

UnitedHealthcare, Humana—and now Aetna—are abandoning Obamacare exchanges because they’re unprofitable. Meanwhile, for the first time in 10 years, the U.S. death rate has increased. CDC researcher Andrew Fenelon told the Associated Press: “…it is quite rare to see it [a death rate increase] for the whole population. … Many countries in Europe are witnessing declines in mortality, so the gap between the U.S. and other countries is growing.” For 80 percent of the past decade, President Obama has been president. Obamacare was unconstitutionally rammed through Congress on Christmas Eve of 2009. Isn’t it interesting that in 2016—with Obamacare in full...

Aetna’s decision to reduce its Obamacare business appears to stem from the Department of Justice’s lawsuit to block Aetna’s merger with rival Humana. In short, it’s an act of retaliation. As a result, Aetna continues to dominate Sentifi Top Attentions list for the third consecutive day.

Freefall Remember when Democrats, still in the midst of shoving ObamaCare down the throats of an unwilling nation, argued that it would actually be “market-based”? Democrats don’t know anything about how truly free markets work, of course, but their argument was that the ObamaCare exchanges were basically competitive marketplaces in which consumers could shop for the insurance that would make sense for them. OK, granted, it’s a marketplace operating under the artificially imposed and completely insane parameters imposed by the government. And OK, what we commonly call health “insurance” isn’t really anything like a real insurance product. And OK, the...

... Now, however, it appears a large reason for the shift in tone was the Department of Justice's lawsuit to block Aetna's merger with rival Humana. A July letter, acquired by The Huffington Post, outlined Aetna's thinking on the public exchanges if the deal with Humana were blocked. The letter from Bertolini to the DOJ outlined the effect of a possible merger on its Obamacare business. ...

Aetna, 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 and Humana, which have cited similar concerns about financial losses on these exchanges created under President Barack Obama's national healthcare reform law.

Exchanges collapsing, premiums skyrocketing, policies cancelled. Remember when President Obama lied to us about 92 million times and said that if we liked our plan we could keep it? That was fun… Over the past year, we have seen major health insurance companies give up on the massive failure. Now, one of the top health insurers has said enough is enough. BREAKING: Top health insurer dropping out of most ObamaCare marketplaces https://t.co/fkErkcVR3d pic.twitter.com/RaQKisqcIp — The Hill (@thehill) August 16, 2016 From The Hill: Aetna, one of the largest health insurers in the country, announced Monday that it will significantly scale...

Aetna is sharply cutting its participation in Obamacare exchanges for 2017. The health insurer said it will offer individual Affordable Care Act exchange plans in just four states, down from 15 this year, in an effort to reduce its losses. "As a strong supporter of public exchanges as a means to meet the needs of the uninsured, we regret having to make this decision," Chairman and CEO Marc Bertolini said in a statement. The insurance giant says it will offer ACA exchange plans in Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia, slashing its Obamacare footprint by 70 percent next year. It will...

ObamaCare’s collapsing. UnitedHealth announced it will abandon most ObamaCare markets. Giant insurers like Aetna and the BlueCross Blue Shield Association are next. They warned last week losses trying to sell ObamaCare plans are “unsustainable” and they’ll either stop selling the plans or significantly raise premiums. Even Hillary Clinton’s campaign admits the cost of ObamaCare is “crushing.” Six years of ObamaCare have taught the nation lessons that Republicans should not ignore. Keep it short: Don’t give us another 2,572-page “comprehensive” health bill that lawmakers vote on without reading. What Congress passes, Congress must live by: Under Obamacare, members of Congress and...

Stung by losses under the federal health law, major insurers are seeking to sharply limit how policies are sold to individuals in ways that consumer advocates say seem to discriminate against the sickest and could hold down future enrollment. In recent days Anthem, Aetna and Cigna, all among the top five health insurers, told brokers they will stop paying them sales commissions to sign up most customers who qualify for new coverage outside the normal enrollment period, according to the companies and broker documents. Last year, these "special enrollment" clients were much more expensive than expected because lax enforcement allowed...

In another merger of health insurance giants, Anthem has agreed to acquire Cigna in a $54 billion deal. Anthem (ANTM), a Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurer, said it would buy all of Cigna's (CI)shares in a cash and stock transaction. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2016, if it passes state regulatory approvals and other requirements. The merged insurer would cover 53 million members. The merger would leave only three major players in the insurance industry. Earlier this month, Aetna (AET) struck a deal to buy Humana (HUM) for $37 billion, which would cover...

Anthem said on Friday it would buy Cigna in a deal valued at $54.2 billion, creating the largest U.S. health insurer. Cigna shareholders will get $103.40 per share in cash and 0.5152 Anthem shares. The deal comes three weeks after Aetna struck a deal to buy Humana for $37 billion and is part of an industry-wide consolidation of the health insurance industry following the roll-out of the Obama government's health-care reform law.

OUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- WDRB News has obtained an e-mail message that was distributed to Humana employees this morning, after news of a proposed sale of Humana to Aetna became public. The e-mail was from Bruce Broussard, the president and CEO of Humana. The text of that e-mail is reproduced below: (Click HERE to also view a FAQ that was distributed to stakeholders.) A Message from Bruce Broussard Today marks an important and exciting day in our company’s history. We have just announced that Aetna and Humana will merge to create a new healthcare organization. While there are many reasons...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell issued a statement Friday morning, saying he predicted the "type of consolidation" exhibited by the proposed sale of Humana to Aetna and pointed to the Affordable Care Act as the root cause. McConnell's statement reads as follows: "For more than 30 years, Humana has been a cornerstone of economic growth and a great philanthropic partner in our community. This morning’s announcement, as I predicted during the debate five years ago, is the inevitable result of Obamacare’s push toward consolidation as doctors, hospitals, and insurers merge in response to an ever-growing government."

Aetna has reached a $37 billion deal to buy Humana. A news release from the two companies says Aetna will acquire all outstanding shares of Humana for a combination of cash and stock valued at approximately $230 per share. The deal was unanimously approved by the board of directors....