Humana pulling out of many Obamacare markets

By Sarah Karlin-Smith
07/21/16 02:53 PM EDT - POLITICO

Humana will stop marketing Obamacare exchange plans in several states next year and will exit many off-exchange individual markets as well, the company announced today.

The decision means the company will only offer individual plans in 156 counties in 11 states, down from 1,351 counties across 19 states this year. It had sold plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges in 15 states this year.

Humana would not provide a breakdown of how many ACA exchanges it was leaving, or identify which ones. But a spokesman said the carrier was pulling out of states where it had a very limited presence.

The announcement, made in the company's second-quarter earning filings, came shortly after the Justice Department announced it had filed suit to block Aetna's takeover of Humana. The insurer had said in May it would be pulling back but gave confirmation and more details in the Thursday announcement.