51ÊÓƵ

An Arizona county is poised to become an Obamacare ghost town because no insurer wants to sell exchange plans. Aetna’s announcement that it would exit 11 of 15 states where it offers Obamacare plans leaves residents of Pinal County, Ariz., without options for next year, unless regulators scramble to find a carrier to fill the void. Yet they have limited options and little time before plan approval deadlines for 2017 open enrollment. About 9,700 people in Pinal signed up for Obamacare plans this year, according to HHS data. (Pradhan, 8/18)

In an issues brief, the insurance industry association America’s Health Insurance Plans has recently proposed several changes aimed at helping insurers make more profit on the policies sold to individuals and small businesses through the exchanges. ... Insurer recommendations include scrapping a requirement that the oldest – and likely the sickest — customers pay no more than three times the amount in premiums that the youngest policy holders do. ... Another thing insurers would like to change is the ACA minimum medical loss ratio, which caps the revenues insurers can raise from selling policies after claims and certain other expenses are met. (Radelat, 8/19)

Adults who are poor, young, Latino or work at a small business are most likely to be uninsured, according to an analysis released today by the Commonwealth Fund. Groups that were at risk of not having health insurance before the Affordable Care Act was implemented continue to be at a higher risk of not having coverage under the law, the analysis says. (McIntire, 8/18)