Just as the U.S. Justice Department formally moved to block the merger between Humana and Aetna, Humana said it is significantly reducing its individual health plans sold on and off the Affordable Care Act's exchanges.
Starting in 2017, Humana will sell individual plans in only 11 states, compared with 19 states for this year, the Louisville, Ky.-based insurer said in a release Thursday. The ACA retreat was revealed in a company update to increase its profit estimates for the year.
The reduction is even starker at a local level. Humana's individual plans will be offered in “no more than 156 counties” next year, compared with 1,351 counties this year. Humana expects to collect anywhere from $750 million to $1 billion in premiums from its individual ACA plans in 2017, a reduction of almost 80% from the $3.4 billion premiums projected for 2016.
Humana pre-recorded a $176 million loss on 2016 ACA plans in February, and the insurer added another $208 million in expected losses Thursday.
