Blue Cross Blue Shield out of Nebraska's Obamacare marketplace; may return if changes to law are ...

Blue Cross Blue Shield out of Nebraska's Obamacare marketplace; may return if changes to law are made

The decision by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska to leave the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance marketplace may awaken officials to the need for change, the head of the state’s largest health insurer said Friday.

If not, said Blue Cross CEO Steve Martin, there’s no end in sight for the losses that he said forced the Omaha-based insurance company to remove itself from the exchange for 2017, only hours before the deadline to stay or leave.

Although Blue Cross’ individual exchange policies cover only about 20,000 of its 750,000 customers, those policies have lost $140 million since 2014. If Blue Cross remained in the market, it estimated that the loss could reach $250 million by the end of 2017.

“We cannot take another hit,” Martin said. “We are very hopeful and will work with federal regulators with positive intent and try to be back in the marketplace next year. But if the markets are worse or don’t change, we can’t guarantee we’ll be back.”

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/livewellnebraska/health/blue-cross-blue-shield-out-of-nebraska-s-obamacare-marketplace/article_ba159306-81b9-11e6-a263-039caebdcf91.html