If you are a Hoosier relying on the Marketplace, created by the Affordable Health Care Act, for your health insurance, take note: two more insurers announced they would be leaving the Marketplace for 2018; both Anthem and MDwise will be absent from the Marketplace next year. If you currently have a plan with either carrier, you will remain covered through the end of the year, but you will have to choose a new plan during the enrollment period this fall for 2018.
And Indiana is down to two…two-ahh.
This is not the first time insurers have dropped out of Indiana’s Marketplace; Anthem and MDwise join UnitedHealthCare, Humana and Aetna as major insurers to drop their Marketplace plans. The culprit is the same for each: they’re losing money on the Marketplace plans, so they are focusing their attention to the profitable plans…can’t really blame them. As of right now, the 2018 Indiana Marketplace will have just two providers, CareSource and Celtic…who?
Speaking from experience, the Marketplace health insurance plans were never very good. High premiums, high deductibles, high out-of-pocket maximums, and limited access to health care providers are characteristics of the plans found in the Marketplace. My family dropped our Marketplace insurance plan for a nontraditional plan–you can read more about it here. We’ve had a tremendous experience with our current plan, but unfortunately, the type of plan we utilize won’t work for everyone. This means many Hoosiers will be left with limited insurance options from relatively unknown companies in 2018.
I wish I had the answers to fix the issue at hand; while I believe healthcare should be accessible to everyone at a reasonable cost, the current model is not working as the options available through the Marketplace are subpar. And, unfortunately, it doesn’t appear we will see any changes soon thanks to both parties in Washington being more concerned with winning than working together to actually accomplish a plan that will work and benefit the public–that’s as political as I’ll get on this blog, I promise.
For those with health insurance through an employer, Anthem and MDwise’s absence does not impact you; only plans obtained on the Indiana Marketplace are affected. If you happen to live in Benton, Newton, White, Jasper, or Warren county, Anthem will offer an off-exchange medical plan, which I was not able to find any detail on at the time of this writing.
Hopefully the remaining two insurers remain in the Marketplace so Hoosiers do not find themselves without coverage, but only time will tell.
Disclaimer: Nothing on this blog should be considered advice, or recommendations. If you have questions pertaining your individual situation you should consult your financial advisor. For all of the disclaimers, please see my disclaimers page.
