Obamacare’s Record: Running Out Of Options

NEVADA: ‘A Health-Care Crisis For Rural Nevada’ ‘That Leaves About 8,000 People In 13 Counties And Carson City Without Access To Obamacare Health Plans’

“Anthem Inc. said it would stop selling Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in most of Nevada next year. The move together with the departure of a smaller insurer leaves 14 of the state’s counties poised to have no insurer on its exchange. The state insurance marketplace, the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, said that insurers had filed to offer plans only in Clark, Washoe and Nye counties, leaving the remaining, largely rural region without any exchange options for 2018. Around 8,000 people living in the 14 potentially bare counties currently have exchange coverage. Anthem had offered marketplace plans throughout the state this year.” (“Anthem Pulling Back on Offering ACA Plans in Nevada,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/28/2017)

• “In addition to Anthem, a smaller insurer, Prominence Health Plan, a unit of hospital company Universal Health Services Inc., will leave the Nevada exchange next year; Prominence had been selling marketplace plans in seven counties, including four of those that are now poised to lack exchange insurers.” (“Anthem Pulling Back on Offering ACA Plans in Nevada,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/28/2017)

“Anthem Inc.’s decision to quit offering Obamacare plans in much of Nevada will leave large parts of the state without options on the health law’s exchanges. … That leaves about 8,000 people in 13 counties and Carson City without access to Obamacare health plans and the government subsidies that often come with them, according to the state’s Silver State Health Insurance Exchange. ‘I consider this a health-care crisis for rural Nevada,’ Heather Korbulic, executive director for the exchange, said in a statement.” (“Anthem’s Exit Creates Obamacare ‘Crisis’ for Rural Nevadans,” Bloomberg, 6/29/2017)

MISSOURI: ‘Tens Of Thousands’ Across ‘A Swath Of Northwestern Missouri’ Currently Have ‘No Available Marketplace Plans For Next Year’

SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-MO): “Obamacare is collapsing and Missouri families are paying the price. We now have tens of thousands of Missourians in the Kansas City area that have lost their plans and have no insurer option on the Obamacare exchanges next year. It is another devastating blow to families that are already struggling with higher costs and less access to quality health care under the law.” (Sen. Blunt, Press Release, 5/24/2017)

• “This year, 97 out of Missouri’s 114 counties and the City of St. Louis have only one insurer offering plans on the exchanges…. As things stand today, that leaves 25 counties with no insurer option and 77 counties with only one insurer option next year.” (Sen. Blunt, Press Release, 5/24/2017)

“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City plans to pull out of the Affordable Care Act health-insurance exchanges, a move that likely leaves a swath of northwestern Missouri with no available marketplace plans for next year. The nonprofit is the sole marketplace insurer in 25 counties in Missouri, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.” (“Insurer Exit Leaves 25 Missouri Counties With No ACA Plans for 2018,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/25/2017)

OHIO:  10,500 ‘Residents In 18 Counties Without An Insurance Option’ Next Year

SEN. ROB PORTMAN (R-OH): “For the past few years we’ve seen premiums and deductibles skyrocket because of the ObamaCare law, as we’ve seen a declining number of viable health care choices for families and small businesses. Now, with the pullout of Anthem in Ohio, there are at least 20 counties without a single insurer offering health coverage on the ObamaCare exchange. And many other counties will have only one insurer, with no competition to get costs down for families.” (Sen. Portman, Press Release, 6/6/2017)

“One of Ohio's largest health care providers is leaving the state's health care exchange, leaving residents in 18 counties without an insurance option…. Anthem will pull out as of Jan. 1, 2018, so it won't be a choice for people buying individual insurance later this year. Currently, 44,000 Ohioans have Anthem coverage they purchased on the exchange.” (“Major Insurer Anthem To Withdraw From Ohio Health Care Exchange,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/06/2017)

• “In 18 counties, including Muskingum and Coshocton, Anthem's pullout will leave no options for Ohioans who get insurance through the exchange. The 18 counties, which currently have 10,500 Anthem exchange customers, are concentrated in Appalachia and include some of the poorest in the state.” (“Major Insurer Anthem To Withdraw From Ohio Health Care Exchange,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/06/2017)

WASHINGTON: Grays Harbor & Klickitat Counties Were At High Risk Of Having ‘No Company Offering Plans In The Individual Market’ Next Year Until Just Days Ago

“Two health insurance companies will quit offering individual plans in Washington state next year… Grays Harbor and Klickitat counties will have no company offering plans in the individual market, [state Insurance Commissioner Mike] Kreidler said. Between the two counties, some 3,300 people currently have individual plans.” (“Two Health Insurance Companies Pull Out Of Washington Individual Market,” The Spokesman-Review, 6/8/2017)

“Washington state officials have successfully filled the last county that was facing no subsidized health insurance options on the Obamacare exchange heading into the next open enrollment.” (“Washington State Fills Obamacare's 'Empty' Counties,” Washington Examiner, 6/26/2017)