Anthem returning to ACA exchange in Ohio in 2019

Sept. 26--Anthem will be once again selling individual health insurance plans next year in Ohio after its dramatic exit from the Obamacare exchanges during 2018.

The insurance company will sell plans in 25 counties in the state including Warren and Butler counties, according to filings with the Ohio Department of Insurance, which regulates the exchanges.

Open enrollment for coverage next year begins Nov. 1. and runs through Dec. 15.

Most counties in the region will have more options to choose from next year, signaling the market is starting to stabilize.

In 2018, eight companies sold health insurance products on the exchange in Ohio and 42 counties had just one insurer with an additional 20 counties having only two.

But for next year, 10 companies have filed rates and forms for the department to review and all 88 counties will have at least one insurer. Preliminary filings show 16 counties with just one insurer and 33 counties with two.

Miami County will have two insurance carriers next year selling individual plans instead of one. This year the only individual plan in the county -- sold by CareSource -- is not in-network with Upper Valley Medical Center, the only hospital in the county.

Molina and Medical Mutual are entering new counties and health insurance startup Oscar Health is expanding into the Columbus metro.

"I think what it tells me on the surface is that carriers are slightly more optimistic about what the exchange could offer," said Scott McGohan, CEO of insurance benefits brokerage firm McGohan Brabender.

Costs of individual plans are still rising, though subsidies offset those spikes for some people.

The average premium in Ohio for individual plans will increase 8.2 percent, according to early cost estimates submitted to Ohio Department of Insurance.

In 2018, the weighted average premium for an individual plan was $5,798.83. For 2019, companies are proposing to sell products an an average $6,274.08 premium, up 8.2 percent.

While the increase still outpaces employer-sponsored insurance, the rates are rising at a slower pace than last year when premiums rose an average of 34 percent.

About 11 percent of the increase was because the Ohio Department of Insurance required insurance companies to assume they would lose federal subsidies that help lower costs.

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