Dive Brief:
- Pittsburgh-based Highmark Health is updating its strategy for plans offered through the ACA marketplaces after undergoing significant losses this year.
- Like many other insurers, Highmark is looking to offer fewer products, narrow its networks and has requested a double-digit rate increase of 25.5%.
- Despite its increased caution, the nonprofit plans to continue selling ACA plans in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. Highmark has about 380,000 enrollees and is a dominant insurer in Pennsylvania.
Dive Insight:
Highmark is looking to rebound after losing $318 million on its individual ACA plans in the first half of 2015. The company says its broad array of options attracted many chronically ill consumers in need of expensive healthcare.
While the company has yet to disclose the details of its 2016 offerings, CEO David L. Holmberg has revealed plans to limit consumers' choices of healthcare providers.
Analysts tell The Wall Street Journal that even though some insurers are reducing the number of plans they offer, it appears the array of insurers offering exchange plans will remain robust for 2016. It notes that a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found that of 10 states and the District of Columbia, nine had the same number or more insurers participating.
“In general, the number of insurers available to consumers is as large if not larger” for next year, the Journal quotes Kaiser Family Foundation Senior Vice President Larry Levitt. However, some insurers are “narrowing the number of options they offer,” he said.