On Sept. 27, health insurers are required to let HHS know whether they will sell coverage on the 2018 ACA exchanges.
Here are four things to know about the state of the marketplaces.
1. Three national insurers — Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna, Louisville, Ky.-based Humana and Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group — are out. Indianapolis-based Anthem significantly scaled back its participation for next year, and other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans exited as well.
2. St. Louis-based Centene Corp., New York City-based Oscar Health and CareSource in Dayton, Ohio, expanded their exchange footprints for next year, including filling bare counties other insurers vacated.
3. President Donald Trump's administration said ACA cost-sharing reduction payments — which help insurers selling plans on the exchanges to subsidize the cost of coverage for low-income Americans — will be paid in September. The White House has made the payments so far in 2017, but on a monthly basis. The uncertainty has led some payers to seek significant premium increases and scale back ACA marketplace participation for next year.
4. CMS projected no counties will lack an insurer selling on the exchanges as of Sept. 20, its most up-to-date analysis. The agency expects about half of U.S. counties will have only one payer selling on the individual marketplaces next year.
More articles on payer issues:
Humana to offer older employees early retirement
Critics argue Anthem's new outpatient imaging policy is at odds with promoting quality
Survey: Most patients' insurance premium price ceiling is $100 per month