The number of health plans submitting applications to offer coverage on the federal insurance exchanges in 2018 was down 38% from last year, officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid announced July 10. At this year’s initial filing deadline for fiscal year 2018, 141 qualified health plans had submitted applications to offer coverage in the 39 states that use healthcare.gov, the federally facilitated exchange platform, compared with 227 last year and 281 the year before, CMS officials said in a statement.
The number of insurers participating at the time of open enrollment for 2018 has yet be determined since final contracts aren’t required to be signed until the end of September, but the number participating this year (167) was down by 29.5% from the 237 that offered coverage last year, according to the statement.
“This is further proof that the Affordable Care Act is failing,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in the statement. “Insurers continue to flee the Exchanges, causing Americans to lose their choice for health insurance or lose their coverage all together. These numbers are clear; the status quo is not working. The American people deserve health care choices and access to quality, affordable health care coverage.”
