One insurer is staying in Pinal County, Arizona, and that means the county has avoided becoming the only one in the country to lack an exchange under the Affordable Care Act.
The Associated Press reports that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona had been debating whether to pull out of Pinal County's marketplace, citing rising costs; other insurers have already made their exit. But in the end the company decided to stay, although its rates will increase by 51 percent in 2017.
Jeff Stelnik, senior vice president of sales, strategy and marketing for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, was cited in the article saying that most of the premium increase would be offset by new subsidies that will become available to Arizona residents next year. That said, he also warned that the company still has reservations about the financial viability of the exchanges.
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Stelnik was quoted saying, "We were concerned about not only the long-term stability, but at the same time extremely concerned that Pinal residents had no options under the exchange." At present, between 8,000 to 10,000 Pinal County residents are covered by health insurance through the exchanges.
Still, approximately a million Arizona residents lack coverage — and the situation in Pinal County, while extreme, isn't the only example of insurers running for the hills while pointing to losses on the exchanges.
People receiving coverage on ACA exchanges are older and in poorer health than expected, so they rely more heavily on their insurance, while younger and healthier people are foregoing coverage — despite having to pay a penalty for not having insurance when they file their taxes. A substantial portion of that uninsured million in Pinal County are among those younger, healthier people.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has introduced legislation to exempt people from those penalties if they live in a county with one or no insurers under the exchange.
According to Stelnik, Blue Cross Blue Shield has lost between $225 million and $250 million over the first three years of the exchanges; 2017 will be their fourth year. Arizona's plans and premiums have seen drastic changes each year thus far.
More than 12 million people across the country get their health insurance coverage from the marketplace.
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