3 insurers plan to leave Alaska individual health market

Thousands of Alaskans will have to find a new insurer after a shake-up in the state’s health insurance market.

Aetna and State Farm plan to stop offering individual plans in Alaska and Assurant Health plans to leave the health insurance market altogether. Division of Insurance Director Lori Wing-Heier says the companies covered fewer than 6,000 policyholders at the end of 2014. Two major insurers remain for individual policies.

Wing-Heier says the division is trying to contact another company licensed to write individual policies in Alaska to gauge its interest but that company hasn’t written that kind of policy in several years.

Aetna said it looked at factors including whether it could provide affordable plans in making its decision. Assurant is looking for a buyer for its health insurance business nationwide.

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