Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin leaving Healthcare.gov next year

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin is leaving Healthcare.gov and cutting back its offerings on the individual market for next year, a spokesman for the company said Wednesday.

The company will still offer one plan, off the exchange, in Menominee County.

Anthem has about 18,500 members enrolled in individual plans in the state. Members that have an individual plan will continue to have coverage through the end of the year.

A little more than 25 percent of those members aren’t affected by the decision as they’re enrolled grandfathered or grandmother individual plans, which went into effect before the Affordable Care Act was implemented, according to spokesman Jeff Blunt.

The decision also doesn’t affect those enrolled in its employer-based, Medicare Advantage or Medicaid plans, he said.

Blunt said they were pleased with “some steps” that have been taken to address long-term challenges health plans are facing, like “improving eligibility requirements” that allow consumers to buy coverage outside open enrollment.

“However, the Wisconsin individual market remains volatile, making planning and pricing for ACA-compliant health plans increasingly difficult due to a shrinking and deteriorating individual market, as well as continual changes and uncertainty in federal operations, rules and guidance, including cost sharing reduction subsidies and the restoration of taxes on fully insured coverage,” he wrote in an email.

Anthem will continue to advocate for stabilizing the individual market “to allow us return and offer consumers in Wisconsin individual health plan solutions in the future,” he said.

Anthem currently serves 34 out of the state’s 72 counties, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

Gov. Scott Walker said the withdrawal shows that “Obamacare is collapsing.”

“Growing uncertainty in the health insurance market was created by Obamacare’s costly regulations and it is causing higher premiums and a lack of options,” he said in a statement. “If we do nothing, more companies will back out and more people will lose coverage. Wisconsin families expect and deserve better healthcare coverage options and the time to act is now.”