Two Indianapolis-based health insurers are pulling out of Indiana’s insurance exchanges next year, citing growing uncertainty over the future of the Affordable Care Act. Together, they represent about 77,000 members who now must find other plans.
Just weeks after abandoning its proposed $48 billion merger with rival Cigna Corp., the Indianapolis-based health insurer is looking for its next deal. But this time, it is likely to be much smaller.
One of the nation’s biggest health insurers says it will not return to Ohio’s public insurance exchanges next year, a decision that could open more holes in the Affordable Care Act’s increasingly thin system for helping people buy coverage.
Anthem says it is giving up on the $48 billion purchase in the wake of a Thursday court ruling giving Cigna the right to walk away. The Indianapolis-based insurer says Cigna is not entitled to collect a $1.85 billion breakup fee.
Health insurers are asking for sharp increases in the cost of their Obamacare plans next year. In the first states to make the latest rates public, premiums for Affordable Care Act plans will rise more than 20 percent on average.
Judge Travis Laster said during a hearing Monday that it’s a “long shot” that Anthem can find a path to success after two federal courts found the $48 billion merger was crippled by antitrust problems.
Health insurer Anthem Inc. is not ready to give up its $48 billion bid for rival Cigna and now hopes to find a favorable audience in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Analysts say either Anthem or Cigna could make a move on Humana, which specializes in the fast-growing business of selling private health plans for the elderly.
The decision is a likely final blow to Indianapolis-based Anthem’s bid to complete the $48 billion merger, which a lower-court judge had said should be stopped because it risked undermining competition in health-insurance markets.
Express Scripts Holding Co. shares rose Wednesday after health insurer Anthem Inc., its biggest client, said it hasn’t ruled out using the pharmacy benefit manager after their contract expires.
Health insurer Anthem Inc. threatened to raise rates for its Obamacare plans next year if the U.S. government stops funding subsidies for lower-income customers. The insurer is also considering exiting some Affordable Care Act markets altogether.
The prescription drug manager said Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc., its biggest customer, doesn’t plan to extend its contract when it expires even though Express Scripts is offering major discounts.
Obamacare is stuck in limbo, and insurers and state regulators are struggling to set their plans for what’s increasingly shaping up as a chaotic year for the health-care program.
The White House remained mum on the biggest concern. Insurers, doctors, hospitals and the business community have asked President Trump to preserve cost-sharing subsidies that pare down high deductibles and copayments for consumers with modest incomes.
An exit by Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. could be devastating to the health care law, limiting coverage options for consumers.
Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish this week talked with President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price about elements of the GOP plan that he’d like to see “enhanced.”
The meeting between the president and U.S. health insurers on Monday was a chance for the industry to weigh in on promised changes to the Affordable Care Act that are beginning to come into focus.
Cigna Corp. and Anthem Inc. are trading accusations of harassment and sabotage in competing lawsuits as the two health companies feud publicly in the wake of a stalled $48 billion merger.
Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. on Wednesday won a court ruling blocking Cigna Corp. from terminating a proposed merger between the health insurers until a judge could weigh arguments over the faltering deal at an April 10 hearing.
In the lawsuit, Anthem blasted Cigna, accusing it of repeated efforts to sabotage their proposed merger.
