Iowa's largest health insurer, Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield, will sell policies on the Affordable Care Act's online health insurance marketplace in 2017, according to The Des Moines Register.
Wellmark, which sells over three-quarters of the individual policies sold in Iowa, is making the change because the online system has become more reliable and the legality of the subsidies has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Governor Terry Branstad (R), JD, and the state's insurance commissioner both encouraged Wellmark to do so.
Although Wellmark Chairman John Forsyth expressed confidence that the system will be running by the time 2017 policies are on sale next fall, he openly criticized the ACA website in 2013. "We were convinced it was going to be an awful experience [for customers]," Mr. Forsyth said.