UnitedHealthcare will stop offering Affordable Care Act plans in Illinois in 2017, the Tribune confirmed Tuesday.
The departure of the insurance company will reduce the number of coverage options for consumers in 27 counties.
UnitedHealthcare announced in April that it would pull out of nearly all of the ACA exchanges because of heavier-than-expected losses from covering a population that turned out to be sicker than it expected. The ACA plans, which the company offered in 34 states this year, are a small share of UnitedHealthcare’s total business.
At the time, the company didn’t disclose if it would remain in Illinois and the state Insurance Department also declined comment on the insurer’s status on the exchange, known as Get Covered Illinois.
On Tuesday, UnitedHealthcare disclosed on a website dedicated to insurance brokers that it plans to offer on-exchange plans in only three states — Nevada, New York and Virginia. A company spokeswoman confirmed that it will withdraw from the Illinois exchange.
Illinois members will have access to their benefits through the end of the year. The change does not affect the company’s group insurance business or Medicare plans.
Also, the company said its Harken Health subsidiary, which started offering ACA plans on a limited basis this year in Illinois and Georgia, will stay on those exchanges next year. The broker website indicated that Harken will expand to Florida in 2017.
UnitedHealthcare had about 795,000 exchange enrollees at the end of the first quarter, but the company did not break down the total by state.
At the end of last year, UnitedHealthcare had nearly 22,000 individual members in Illinois, less than 4 percent of the state market, according to Mark Farrah Associates, a health industry data aggregator and web publisher. In 2015, the company only offered plans in Cook County.
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