Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Insurers to Fill Obamacare Gaps in Ohio’s Individual Market

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—Five health insurance companies in Ohio, including Molina Healthcare Inc., have stepped up to sell health plans in 19 counties that would have been without Obamacare individual coverage in 2018, the state’s insurance regulator said on Monday.1

Ohio’s Department of Insurance said it had worked to draw in insurers for the 20 counties that were left without an option after others, including Anthem Inc., said they would exit in 2018.

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Molina, Buckeye Health Plan, CareSource, Medical Mutual of Ohio and Paramount Health Care will together cover 19 counties where 11,000 Ohioans are enrolled in these plans, the department said. It is continuing to look for an insurer for Paulding County.

Republican lawmakers have vowed to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, often called Obamacare, but have not agreed on how to do so, creating uncertainty about how the program will be run and whether it will be fully funded.

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his threat to cut off about $8 billion in subsidies next year.

Anthem has said that without those subsidies, it would need to raise premium rates by another 20% or leave more states. That could make plans so expensive that only the sickest Americans will buy them, which will drive up the costs of the program.

Reference

  1. Ohio Department of Insurance. News release: Access to health insurance restored in 19 Ohio counties. 2017 Jul 31.

Related Articles

    Rheumatologist Rudy Molina, MD, Pursues Passion for Paleontology

    When Rodolfo “Rudy” Molina, MD, was 8 years old, a college recruiter visited his home. Unbeknownst to his parents, their son, now a rheumatologist at Arthritis Associates in San Antonio, Texas, had entered several of his drawings in a competition intended for high school students. The recruiter, unaware of the young artist’s age, was definitely…

    As 2018 Obamacare Deadline Nears, U.S. States Believe Every County Covered

    NEW YORK (Reuters)—U.S. states have negotiated to the bitter end to keep health insurers selling Obamacare plans in every county next year, in some cases taking a hard-line to prevent exits that leave residents without access to health coverage. But states cannot rule out a last-minute pullout by an insurance company. ad goes here:advert-1ADVERTISEMENTSCROLL TO…

    Insurers Step Up Pitch for Obamacare as Government Slashes its Effort

    NEW YORK (Reuters)—President Donald Trump’s 90% cut to Obamacare advertising has U.S. health insurers in many states digging deeper into their pockets to get the word out about 2018 enrollment, which opened last week. Independence Blue Cross, a health insurer in Pennsylvania, has commissioned a tractor-trailer truck to bring insurance consultants out to shopping centers…

    U.S. Court Blocks Anthem-Cigna Deal

    (Reuters)—A federal judge on Wednesday ruled against U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc.’s proposed $54 billion merger with smaller rival Cigna Corp, derailing an unprecedented effort to consolidate the country’s health insurance industry. The U.S. Department of Justice sued in July to stop Anthem’s purchase of Cigna, a deal that would have created the largest U.S….