Small business owners and Virginians who buy individual health insurance plans on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace are facing more cost increases for 2018. Aetna, a major insurer in Virginia and nationwide, announced earlier this month that it would not sell health insurance plans on the ACA exchange in 2018 because of projected financial losses, reported CNBC.
Currently, Aetna sells health insurance plans in 50 of Virginia’s 95 counties, and in 24 of those, the insurer is one of just two offering plans. The other is Anthem, which is tentatively planning to sell plans in Virginia in 2018.
However, that plan is somewhat precarious. Anthem has already requested to raise premium rates by 37.7 percent on average, but this request is based on an assumption that the federal government will continue to provide the subsidies that help cover the costs of lower-income customers. So far, federal lawmakers have not committed to those payments for 2018, and if they don’t do so, premium rates could rise by another 20 percent.
All of this is happening as the U.S. Congress is pushing forward with their effort to repeal and replace the ACA.
