Most of Tennessee will have only one insurer under Obamacare in 2018
But
"Why seek to expand in a time of uncertainty?"
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Schlosser said the company decided to enter the
"While it's a completely new market for us, we'll be working closely with regulators to see if we can deliver a competitive product in
The
Tennessee Insurance Commissioner
"The uncertainty about the future of the exchange, cost-sharing reduction payments, and enforcement of the individual mandate will likely increase carrier rate requests by 15 to 20 percent above what they would have otherwise filed," she said. "I share consumers' frustrations about federal uncertainty and how that is impacting their ability to afford insurance."
Supporters of Obamacare blame the Trump administration for not enforcing the individual mandate to buy insurance and taking other steps to help maintain the health exchange markets.
"
Nationwide, enough insurers are planning to sell coverage on the Affordable Care Act's insurance exchanges next year to keep them working -- if only barely -- in most parts of the country.
Competition in many markets has dwindled to one insurer -- or none in some cases -- and another round of steep price hikes is expected to squeeze consumers who don't receive big income-based tax credits to help pay their bill.
"What we're seeing is a deterioration in these markets, but the markets haven't imploded, they haven't gone into a rapid downward decline," said
Health insurers had until Wednesday to declare whether they planned to sell coverage next year on exchanges in most states. Actual participation and final rates won't be set until late summer or closer to the
Early plans filed by many insurers for next year include premium increases well over 20 percent, and Avalere expects more than 40 percent of
The early picture for 2018 looks much like it did for previous years: Insurers are retreating from some markets or charging a lot more to stay in others.
Nationwide, prices for individual insurance could rise between 28 and 40 percent on average, according to a prediction by
Most of that expected increase reflects concerns over how President
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This story was updated
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