As Trump’s healthcare bill heads to the Senate, Aetna is severing ties with Obamacare after losing nearly $700 million between 2014 and 2016 in its individual business line.
On Wednesday, the insurance company announced that it would discontinue its business in Nebraska and Delaware next year, months after announcing that it would pull out of Iowa and Virginia in 2018 as well.
The company has removed itself from 11 of its 15 markets this year, as the customers on Obamacare have been costing the company more than originally expected. With Aetna ending its business in Nebraska, it leaves Medica as the only insurer on the exchange with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield as the sole carrier for Delaware, CNN Money reports.
Aetna is the latest insurance company to remove itself from the individual market after suffering large losses in 2017. Companies that have decided to stay in Obamacare have requested big rate hikes, as high as 52%, for the forthcoming year. The main reason being its cost, as it’s been bringing in larger bills than their premiums cover, in addition to the political drama surrounding Trump’s new bill.
“It’s hard to say whether Aetna would have stayed in the market under different circumstances, but we are seeing a number of insurers expressing concern over the political and regulatory uncertainty they face next year,” Cynthia Cox of the Kaiser Family Foundation said.
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