At the federal level, Congress is moving forward with efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Meanwhile, in Missouri, yet another insurer is considering pulling out of the health insurance exchange, HealthCare.gov. Anthem announced that its participation in the ACA marketplace is uncertain beyond 2017 in recent calls with analysts, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Anthem has been selling health insurance plans on the online exchange since 2014, and if it pulls out, a large portion of the state would have no insurance carrier option on the marketplace in 2018. Nearly 245,000 people bought health insurance through HealthCare.gov in Missouri for 2017.
One big factor is the current uncertainty surrounding the cost-sharing subsidies provided by the federal government. These are paid directly to insurers to help cover the costs of lower-income customers, and federal lawmakers have not committed to continuing these in 2018. If they don’t, Anthem could pull out of the exchange or raise premiums by up to 20 percent.
If Anthem leaves, it wouldn’t be the first insurer to do so. Both Aetna (Coventry in Missouri) and UnitedHealthcare stopped selling plans on the marketplace this year, which left 96 of the state’s 114 counties without an insurance provider.
