October 8, 2016
When Barack Obama’s signature healthcare plan hit the marketplace three years ago, it touted 23 co-ops. In light of recent news concerning yet another insurer set to withdraw from a state exchange, that number has dropped to a mere six of the original 23 still operating. Seventeen of the original co-ops have now dropped out. In September, Health Republic Insurance of New Jersey — the state’s top insurer — released news that they were $46.3 million in debt, and as of 2017, they would no longer be taking part in the state health exchange, news that leaves 35,000 policy holders now scrambling for coverage.
As Health Republic undergoes a rehabilitation plan — not bankruptcy, but still needing court approval — other insurers are following suit and leaving state exchanges, insurers such as Indiana University Health Plans, whose exit will leave approximately 27,000 Indiana residents losing their ObamaCare plan in the new year.
Insurers still operating in the state exchanges are set to raise premiums yet again next year. With an average national hike in rates expected to be around eight percent, some states are seeing significantly higher than the national average. Premera in Washington State has already been approved to raise its rates a stunning 19 percent; in Alabama Blue Cross Blue Shield is requesting a 40-percent hike; and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas has requested permission to increase rates an astonishing 60 percent. As people across the nation, in places such as New Jersey or Indiana, find themselves searching for a new plan, they will be facing a massive hit to the wallet with the skyrocketing health coverage costs.
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