Anthem announced on Wednesday that it will reduce its individual insurance plans in Wisconsin and Indiana, citing its inability to cope with the cost of sicker Americans that sign up for health insurance on the Obamacare market.
Anthem will sell health plans in one county in Wisconsin and five counties in Indiana. However, Americans who purchase those plans cannot use Obamacare’s subsidies to lower their costs.
Anthem said in a statement,
A stable insurance market is dependent on products that create value for consumers through the broad spreading of risk and a known set of conditions upon which rates can be developed. Today, planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans has become increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage.
President Donald Trump has threatened in the past to remove the Obamacare subsidies that many health providers use to defray the costs of covering more expensive patients and lower-income Americans.
Anthem announced earlier this month that it will withdraw from the Obamacare market in Ohio.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released a statement following Anthem’s announcement. McDaniel said:
This decision is yet another example of the devastating effects of Obamacare’s failings. Insurers are rapidly exiting the marketplace, leaving Americans with little to no choice, skyrocketing premiums, and rising costs. We have to act quickly to fix the mess of Obamacare. President Trump and Republicans in Congress have put forward a plan that will offer the American people the quality and affordable healthcare system they deserve. It’s time for Senate Democrats to drop their obstructionist tactics and join Republicans in the effort to fix our broken healthcare system.”
Speaker Paul Ryan also issued a statement, chiding Obamacare for reducing Wisconsinites’ access to affordable health coverage. Ryan said:
Because of Obamacare, many Wisconsinites will now have to scramble to find new plans and new doctors. This law has failed our state, where average individual market premiums have skyrocketed by 93 percent since 2013. Obamacare is clearly collapsing, and we have to step in before more families get hurt. We are on a rescue mission to replace this collapsing law with a better system so that people have lower costs, more choices, and real peace of mind. We need to get this done.
President Trump recently suggested that Obamacare could soon fall into a death spiral.