Now that this year's open enrollment period has closed, Aetna has expressed apprehension in its future participation on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, according to The Hill.
"We continue to have serious concerns about the sustainability of the public exchanges," said Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, according to the report. He added that the insurer is concerned about "the overall stability of the risk pool."
However, just earlier this month, Mr. Bertolini expressed confidence in the exchanges thus far. "We believe it's incredibly important in the business we're in that we insure all Americans," he said, according to The Hill. "This is our first attempt to make this happen, and we believe we have an obligation to stick it out and work with it until we know that it won't work, and I believe it is too early to give up on this process."
Still, Aetna CFO Shawn Guertin said the insurer isn't giving up. "I would not say that we're more pessimistic," he said, according to Bloomberg. "I would say we're very much in the same place, which is that it's premature to declare victory or defeat here."
In November, UnitedHealth Group, the nation's largest health insurer, threatened to leave the ACA exchanges as early as 2017.
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