Participation by insurers in the Obamacare exchanges has already declined by 27 percent since the law took effect. In 2013, just before Obamacare took effect, 395 insurers offered individual market coverage. In 2016, that number dropped to 287, according to an analysis by Ed Haislmaier, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Haislmaier projects that next year there will be roughly 45 fewer insurers participating in the Obamacare exchanges, a 15 percent decline from the previous year. Haislmaier, who tracks the numbers daily, says the picture will become more clear when insurance arrangements are solidified around the end of October.
On Monday, Aetna announced that it would exit 11 of the 15 states where it offers health care coverage on the Obamacare exchanges, citing $430 million in losses since January 2014.
Haislmaier says that Aetna’s exit is one reason to believe the insurance market is headed to a place where there will only be one or two insurers operating in every state.
