By Sharon Mittleman | KTAR
The picture of health care is changing, and it’s not looking so pretty for consumers.
The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, has been in place for a couple of years, and now the number of insurance companies that still want to participate is dwindling. Some of the health insurance companies that had been offering plans in Arizona under the Affordable Care Act are pulling out.
“The departure of major insurance carriers from Arizona’s health insurance marketplace is a troublesome trend, and Arizona is not the only state that has seen the options in its Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance marketplaces become narrower. That said, the impact of these departures is somewhat minimal given that the vast majority of people in Arizona get health coverage from either their employer, a government plan such as Medicaid, Medicare or TRICARE (for active and retired military), or through an individual plan outside of the government-subsidized marketplace.
“Still, for the approximately 135,000 Arizonans enrolled in an ACA marketplace plan – especially those in rural counties where the options are much more limited – the limited plan options could lead to higher premiums, particularly because the people in those plans to be higher risk. This is certainly an issue that regulators and legislators at both the state and federal levels will need to address if health insurance under the Affordable Care Act is to be truly affordable.”
~ David Weissman
If you’d like to discuss employment or health care law, contact David Weissman, dweissman@roselawgroup.com
