Almost 85 percent of Missouri counties are projected to have a single insurer — Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield — selling individual health plans on the state's Affordable Care Act exchange for 2017.
Anthem requested average rate increases of 29 percent on its individual ACA plans, but the payer's approved premium rate increases will not be announced until late October, Columbia Daily Tribune reports.
Consumer marketplace navigators were looking to St. Louis-based Centene to sell individual plans through the exchange for 2017. However, a Centene spokesperson told Columbia Daily Tribune it will not enter the 2017 exchange.
Three other health insurers — Cigna, Healthy Alliance Life and Humana — will sell individual plans on the state's exchange for 2017, though not as expansively as Anthem.
More articles about payer issues:
Some employers offer catastrophic insurance to lure potential staff
Costs, confusion discourage some consumers during open enrollment
Individual ACA health plans to increase 36% in Alabama