HARTFORD, Conn. _ Aetna will not sell individual plans eligible for Obamacare subsidies in Iowa next year.
The announcement, made Thursday morning, was "a result of financial risk and an uncertain outlook for the marketplace," spokesman T.J. Crawford said. "We are still evaluating Aetna's 2018 individual product presence in our remaining states."
Aetna, headquartered in Hartford, currently sells on exchanges under the Affordable Care Act in Iowa, Delaware, Nebraska and Virginia. Including its customers in Iowa, it covers 240,000 people in individual plans on those exchanges.
Iowa was already expecting an exit of Wellmark, which covers 21,400 individuals in the state, both on the exchange and in plans not eligible for subsidies.
During 2016, Aetna covered about 42,000 people in individual plans in Iowa, according to the Iowa Insurance Department. That includes policies both on and off the exchange.
Across all four companies selling on the exchange in Iowa, there were 51,573 enrolled for 2017, according to government data.
