Health insurance provider Anthem announced Wednesday afternoon that it would greatly scale back its participation in the Nevada state Obamacare exchanges in 2018.
The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, the Nevada insurance marketplace, said Anthem had only filed plan proposals in three counties for 2018. Anthem is effectively leaving some 14 counties, or 8,000 people, without an insurance provider on the state’s Obamacare exchange, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval called the state’s exchanges in a moment of crisis following Anthem’s announcement.
“I consider this a healthcare crisis for rural Nevada, and it is extremely concerning to me that thousands of Nevadans may lose to affordable healthcare,” executive director of The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, Heather Korbulic, said in a statement. “My staff and I are doing everything within our control and influence to secure resources for consumers in these 14 counties.”
Anthem’s near total withdrawal from the Nevada marketplace comes weeks after it pulled entirely out of 3 states.
The company announced in early June it would completely reduce its exposure to the Ohio state exchange, a decision that could leave nearly 20 counties in the state without a single insurer on the exchanges. (RELATED: Anthem To Pull Out Of Obamcare Entirely In Nevada)
Anthem announced June 21 that it will drop out of the state exchanges in Wisconsin and Indiana. The company said it will keep offering plans outside the exchanges in those states, but will stop offering Obamacare plans in 2018.
Like many insurance companies that have opted out of Obamacare in recent months, Anthem cited market volatility and rampant uncertainty as reasons for its exits in Nevada, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana.
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