Anthem is on the verge of withdrawing from Nevada’s health exchange policy citing reasons of uncertainty regarding the Affordable Care Act

Anthem, Inc., the renowned American trusted insurance plan provider, has pulled down a shocker by announcing the withdrawal of its health insurance plan from Nevada. Back in 2010, President Barak Obama had signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to provide Medicare benefits to the American citizens. Now, in the light of the decision taken by the Trump Administration to reduce the allocated funding to the healthcare sector, Anthem plans to backtrack its footsteps from Nevada.

Anthem’s bolt-from-the-blue move is likely to hamper the market scenario in the state. The governor of Nevada, Brian Sandoval, has openly expressed his apparent disappointment and frustration due to Anthem’s sudden initiative. Out of the 17 counties in Nevada, Anthem has pulled out its plan from three of the most populous counties. Due to the lack of government funding, the insurance company has decided to terminate the plans in collaboration with U.S. government. As per reports, in the remaining 14 counties of Nevada, Anthem will continue to provide health insurance plans privately.

The Trump Administration had recently decided to reform healthcare plans by reducing the premium policy amount so that every American can buy an insurance plan. Owing to the submissive changes in the pricing and planning of the Affordable Care Act, insurers are now increasingly hanging by the thread, which has resulted in many insurance companies pulling out of the healthcare exchange. The rising uncertainty among insurers regarding the Federal operations and regulations, may be another reason for Anthem to pull out of the Nevada health exchange policy, cite experts.

Apart from Nevada, insurers have also been pulling out their plans from Ohio, Missouri, and Washington – the regions encompassing a substantial number of rural counties. In Ohio, Anthem Inc., is supposedly the leading company selling health insurance plans in all the 88 counties for 2017. However, in 2018, the firm plans to leave nearly 10,500 people across at least 18 counties all high-and-dry, without any insurance plans. This abrupt initiative undertaken by this insurance company is likely to make a slightly negative impact on U.S. healthcare market over the years ahead.

President Donald Trump and the Republican lawmakers have already called for the submission of premium rates and plans from various insurers for the year of 2018, as the government has been working continuously to bring about a plethora of changes in the legal framework. As per the latest reports, insurers have increased their premium rates by up to 50% to 60% or more, for the year of 2018.

Other than Anthem, Aetna Inc. and Humana Inc., two other health insurance giants, have also decided to pull out of the Affordable Care Act in 2018. A significant supply of subsidies from the government to lower the premium costs may possibly be the only solution pertaining to which insurers are likely to hold their decision of withdrawing from the Affordable Care Act plans for 2018.