State Regulators Take-Over NJ COOP – ONLY 2 OPTIONS REMAIN IN NJ MARKETPLACE

Regulators in New Jersey will take over Health Republic Insurance of New Jersey due to its “hazardous financial condition,” leaving the state with only two of their original seven marketplace insurers.

More than 35,000 consumers will have to look for new coverage next year. New Jersey suffered a blow late last year when Oscar Health announced that they would withdraw from the marketplace in 2016. Aetna, who had plans to expand into New Jersey scrapped their expansion plans due to “financial stress” caused by larger than expected enrollment of sicker people and a lower than expected number of younger, healthy enrollees.

Experts advise that nearly one-third of counties across the U.S. will be left with a single carrier option next year. In the state of Missouri, 98 of their 114 counties will have only one option for health care coverage. Even in California, a state that supported the implementation of Obamacare, the market is not immune to its challenges, as they face double-digit rate hikes in 2017.