Aetna is leaving Nebraska’s health care exchange, leaving one insurer in state health care exchange in 2018.
Omaha insurance agent Art Jetter says there are a lot of “ifs” right now. He says the House voted to replace the Affordable Care Act with a plan that will likely face stiff opposition in the Senate. If they can’t get on the same page there is a chance ACA would continue but there would be little or no health care plans to consider.
Jetter says that opens up another big issue. He says, “It is essential that they speed this process up because insurance companies, if they all re-enter the Marketplace – well a lot of them went out of business- but if a number re-enter the Marketplace they have to have time to prepare for 2018.”
Jetter says the bill passed in the U.S. House can resolve the death spiral that some insurance companies are facing today. He says if you were to allow a significant subsidy, up to $14,000 to help a family buy health insurance, they could use that money to buy health insurance that is available to them at the time. However, there is no guarantee that will happen.
As it stands now, Medica is the only company left in the Nebraska Healthcare Exchange.