Blue Cross drops out of Nebraska's Obamacare marketplace

[ForgoTheConsequence]

Source: The Omaha World Herald.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska said Friday it won’t sell individual health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace next year because of continuing losses.

Blue Cross’ departure removes the state’s largest health insurer from the individual marketplace, leaving only Aetna and Medica Health to offer individual policies on the Nebraska’s exchange for 2017.

Steve Martin, the chief executive of Blue Cross, told The World-Herald that the company has lost $140 million on the exchange policies since 2014. If the trend continued, losses could total $250 million by the end of 2017, he said.

As of this year, around 20,000 people out of Blue Cross of Nebraska’s 750,000 clients have individual exchange policies.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/health/blue-cross-drops-out-of-nebraska-s-obamacare-marketplace/article_ba159306-81b9-11e6-a263-039caebdcf91.html

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Time for single payer yet?

[Warpy]

1. This is how we'll eventually get single payer

Profit sucking insurance companies will pull out of unprofitable markets and single payer will have to happen state by state.

Were it not for Joe Lieberman, we might already have Medicare opt ins for people over 55, the age to be lowered over time. That bastard stopped it single handedly.

[Cal Carpenter]

2. More of this to come, I'm sure

as insurers pull out of the ACA marketplace, state after state...

As someone who benefits by getting my insurance this way with very necessary subsidies, I just hope we don't all end up falling through the so-called cracks again. I just hope something (eg single payer) comes through before this crumbles much further.

Because while some will say, well it is only 20,000 people and there are other options, those other options are shrinking in quantity and failing in quality, and those 20,000 people are real human beings who need real health care, not just nominal insurance to avoid fines.

[elmac]

3. One step closer to single payer

and the end of insurance companies ruining peoples lives.

[hibbing]

4. I have bc/bs of NE

Through work and my premiums are going up 15% this year and 7% next year, so I guess they will make up for the losses pretty quickly.

Peace

[jamzrockz]

5. I have conventry

and they too would be leaving the ACA policies in Nebraska. I wonder who would be left after those 2 companies leave the state? This suck because I had a fantastic insurance policy with them.

[Leontius]

6. So they are claiming a loss of $3500 per policy per year on just these 20,000 policies

can't be offset by the other 730,000 policies they issue.

[kacekwl]

7. I hope that Hillary

stays on top of this and makes single payer a urgent PRIORITY. This can't go on much longer. People will die because of this, medically and financially.