From Anthem to Aetna, major health insurers are leaving ObamaCare marketplace

A sign at the office building of health insurer Anthem is seen in Los Angeles, California. (Reuters/Gus Ruelas)

Anthem, one of the largest health insurers in the U.S., announced Monday that it will not offer plans through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace in Nevada next year.

The insurer also is expected to drastically scale back the plans it offers in Georgia, leaving only some insured in rural counties that otherwise would be left without coverage. With the removal of Anthem, there are 14 counties in Nevada that will not have health insurance for individuals, according to Fox Business.

“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 Monday.

The move wasn’t surprising. Analysts said four months ago that the insurance company was expected to exit a “high percentage” of its plans in the 144 regions where it participated.

President Trump -- who has often railed against ObamaCare but has been so far been unsuccessful with pushing a replacement through the Republican-led Senate -- retweeted the news of Anthem’s exit from the health care marketplace. Trump has often suggested letting ObamaCare “implode.”

Anthem certainly isn’t the first insurer to scale back or pull out of the marketplace completely. Read on for a look at others.

Aetna

Aetna announced in May that it plans to completely leave the ObamaCare marketplace by 2018.

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“Our individual Commercial products lost nearly $700 million between 2014 and 2016, and are projected to lose more than $200 million in 2017 despite a significant reduction in membership,” the company said in a statement. “Those losses are the result of marketplace structural issues that have led to co-op failures and carrier exits, and subsequent risk pool deterioration.”

Humana

Humana, which covers about 150,000 people in 11 states, announced earlier this year that it would leave the Affordable Care Act’s public insurance exchange.

Humana was the first major insurer to cast a no-confidence vote about selling individual plans on the public marketplace for 2018, according to The New York Times. Its main focus has been selling private insurance through Medicare.

Minuteman Health

A Massachusetts-based insurance co-op, Minuteman Health announced in June that it plans to withdraw from the market in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

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Due to a lack of capital, the insurer has been placed in state receivership.

Molina Healthcare

Molina Healthcare Inc., revealed this month its plans to withdraw from the marketplace in Utah and Wisconsin.

It also said it was reviewing its offerings in other states, as performance in Florida and Washington has been dismal.

Harken Health Insurance

A startup by UnitedHealth Group Inc., Harken Health Insurance announced last year that it would pull out of the marketplace in the two states where it offered insurance.

The insurer said it would no longer offer plans in Georgia or Chicago.

UnitedHealth also pulled out of the individual insurance marketplace this year.