Aetna to Cut Nearly 70 Percent of ‘Obamacare’ Footprint in 2017

In a move that will reduce choices for customers and could drive up prices, health insurance giant Aetna said that it will cut its participation in health care exchanges set up by President Barack Obama’s health care reforms.
The company will reduce the number of counties it serves on the exchanges from 778 to 242 for the 2017 plan year – a cut of about 69 percent.
The shift means Aetna will maintain a presence in only four states: Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia. It is on exchanges in 15 states this year, according to The Associated Press. Next year, some states, including Alaska and Oklahoma, will be left with only a single provider selling coverage to individuals.
‘In light of a second-quarter pretax loss of $200 million and total pretax losses of more than $430 million since January 2014 in our individual products,’ Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said in a statement, ‘we have decided to reduce our individual public exchange presence in 2017, which will limit our financial exposure.’

This post was published at ABC News