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PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on Aetna's withdrawal from Arizona, leaving Pinal County with no health insurance plans on federal exchange (all times local):
2:55 p.m.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona says its leadership team is talking with regulators after the pullout of insurance company Aetna left Pinal County with no available health insurance plans on the federal exchange.
The company didn't say Tuesday if it is re-considering its own decision to stop selling plans in Pinal County next year. It says Arizona is an example of what happens when "the market is unstable."
Aetna was the only insurer planning to offer Affordable Care Act plans in Pinal County for 2017. It currently only sells in Maricopa County but had planned to expand to Pinal County. Aetna announced late Monday that it was exiting the exchanges in Arizona and 10 other states and planned to sell only in four states next year.
The state Insurance Department says Blue Cross and UnitedHealthcare currently cover about 8,500 people in Pinal County. But United is pulling out of Arizona and Blue Cross announced in June it didn't plan on offering coverage in Pinal or Maricopa counties next year.
11:30 a.m.
Pinal County won't have a company offering marketplace health insurance plans next year following the nation's third-largest health insurer's decision to exit public exchanges in all but four states.
Aetna was the only insurer planning to offer Affordable Care Act plans in Pinal County for 2017. It currently only sells in Maricopa County but had planned to expand to Pinal County.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona and UnitedHealthcare currently cover about 8,500 people in Pinal County. But United is pulling out of Arizona and Blue Cross is not offering plans there next year.
Arizona Insurance Department spokesman Stephen Briggs said Tuesday that Blue Cross filings would allow it to offer Pinal County plans. A Blue Cross spokeswoman could not immediately comment on whether the company might consider doing so.
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