Aetna to exit healthcare exchanges in 11 states

HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Healthcare insurer Aetna Inc. announced it will pull out of the Affordable Care Act individual public exchanges in 11 states after millions of dollars in losses.

In a statement Monday, Aetna said it will remain in Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia, but will stop offering policies in 11 other states, beginning in 2017.

The decision followed "a second-quarter pretax loss of $200 million and total pretax losses of more than $430 million since January 2014 in our individual products," the statement by Aetna Chairman and CEO Mark T. Bertolini said.

Aetna had 838,000 customers at the end of June, of the 11 million covered under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

UnitedHealth Group will also exit most exchanges in 2017 after losing about $1 billion in 2015 and 2016, and Humana Inc. announced it will leave nearly 1,200 counties in eight states in 2017.