Friday, June 30, 2017
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Health insurer Centene Corp. said Friday that the nearly 40 Missouri counties where it will launch coverage on Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges next year include 25 that would otherwise have been without an insurer.
Missouri-based Centene Corp.’s announcement Friday came 17 days after it said it would foray into the Missouri exchanges even as others are either withdrawing from such markets or proposing steep price hikes to remain.
Centene’s planned offerings in 39 counties and the city of St. Louis will fill an expected void tied to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City’s pledged pullout of that individual insurance marketplace next year — an exodus that would have left 25 Missouri counties with no insurance provider under the exchanges.
“We strive to be a responsible partner with the state and are committed to working closely with regulators and policymakers to collaborate on actions that stabilize the market and offer affordable coverage options,” Michael Neidorff, Centene’s chairman, president and chief executive, said in a statement.
Separately, Missouri Insurance Director Chlora Lindley-Myers called Friday’s announcement “extremely positive news for all Missourians.” She cautioned that final decisions regarding exchange participation by insurers for next year and service areas likely won’t be final until late September, when insurance companies sign contracts with the federal marketplace.
Centene covers 1.2 million customers through the exchanges and is among that market’s biggest providers of health insurance.
That insurer’s growth spurt could fill some big holes that have developed in the exchanges, the only place where people can buy individual coverage with help from an income-based tax credit. Currently, 25 counties in Missouri, 20 in Ohio and another two in Washington have no insurers lined up to sell coverage on the exchange in 2018.