Anthem has announced that they are pulling out of the individual market in 16 of the 19 health insurance regions in California, including all of Southern California. Notices were sent to policyholders informing them that if they get their coverage through Covered CA or even individual policies directly from Anthem without subsidies, their policies will not be renewed on January 1, 2018. This action will impact approximately 250,000 Californians who must switch to new insurers. The instability in the Covered CA marketplace is due to the political attacks on the ACA according to Gerald Kominski of the UCLA Health Policy Center, and other policy experts. Click here to read LA Times article.
On the same day, Anthem announced its quarterly earnings, beating expectations by nearly 10%. Their stock price is up over 30% since January on the strength of their government business and small business plans. Click here for SF Gate article.