Harken, a UnitedHealthcare subsidiary, is leaving the Affordable Care Act exchange in Illinois next year, according to Chicago Tribune.
Here are six key notes:
1. Other leading payers including Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Land of Lincoln will also not offer consumers coverage on the state exchange in 2017.
2. Illinois Department of Insurance data found Harken's exit leaves Cook County residents with three payer options in 2017. Harken had previously stated it would only offer individual exchange plans in Cook County next year in Illinois regions.
3. Harken is exiting the ACA exchanges in Atlanta as well, which is the only other region where the payer offered ACA exchange plans this year.
4. Harken did not provide a reason for its exit, although several payers that left the ACA exchanges suffered huge losses on the plans.
5. Kathy Waligora, director of the health reform initiative of EverThrive Illinois, a maternal and child health advocacy organization, said Harken's departure will not have a huge impact on Cook County residents as it was not a leading payer on the Illinois exchange.
6. In a recent state filing, Harken said it anticipated its proposed rate increases for 2017 would impact nearly 22,845 consumers on the exchanges.
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