CMS NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2017
Contact: CMS Media Relations
County by County Analysis of Current Projected
Insurer Participation in Health Insurance Exchanges
The Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) released a county-level
map of 2018 projected Health Insurance Exchanges participation based on
the known issuer participation public announcements through June 9, 2017.
This map shows that insurance options on the Exchanges continue to
disappear. Plan options are down from last year and, in some areas,
Americans will have no coverage options on the Exchanges, based on the
current data.
“This is yet another failing
report card for the Exchanges. The American people have fewer insurance
choices and in some counties no choice at all. CMS is working with state
departments of insurance and issuers to find ways to provide relief and
help restore access to healthcare plans, but our actions are by no means a
long-term solution to the problems we’re seeing with the Insurance
Exchanges,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma.
The CMS map displays point in
time data and is expected to fluctuate as issuers continue to make
announcements on exiting or entering specific states and counties. It
currently shows that nationwide 47 counties are projected to have no
insurers, meaning that Americans in these counties could be without
coverage on the Exchanges for 2018. It’s also projected that as many as
1,200 counties - nearly 40% of counties nationwide –
could have only one issuer in 2018. Currently, for 2018 at least
35,000 active Exchange participants live in the counties projected to be
without coverage in 2018, and roughly 2.4 million Exchange participants are
projected to have one issuer. [1]
It’s expected that the number of consumers with no coverage choices will
rise.
CMS continues to work with
state departments of insurance and issuers to address bare counties,
exploring all options available under current law to provide Americans with
access to coverage.
Qualified Health Plan
submissions for the Federally-facilitated Exchanges will be accepted by
states and CMS through June 21, 2017.
The Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) is committed to doing everything permitted under
current law to provide patients with immediate relief from damage the
Exchanges has done to the individual and small group health insurance
markets. HHS actions are intended to stabilize the markets, increase
choices, and lower costs. You can learn more by visiting hhs.gov/relief.
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[1] Data as of January 31, 2017.
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