Health Insurer Cigna to expand Obamacare to three new U.S. states

[August 26, 2021]  (Reuters) - Cigna Corp said on Thursday it would now sell health insurance plans on online marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as Obamacare, in three new U.S. states and 93 new counties.

The company will offer individual and family plans to customers in Georgia, Mississippi and Pennsylvania, as well as counties in Arizona, Florida and Virginia through individual exchanges, totaling to 313 counties spanning 13 states.

In February, CVS Health Corp said it would return to selling individual health insurance plans on the ACA-created online marketplaces, citing stability in the market.

CVS Health's Aetna insurance unit and other large health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc exited these online exchanges in 2017 and 2018, due to financial losses and uncertainty as Republicans took aim at former U.S. President Barack Obama's signature law.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican bid backed by former President Donald Trump's administration to invalidate Obamacare, preserving the landmark healthcare law for the third time since its 2010 enactment.

Cigna, which manages insurance plans for big companies and sells health plans on government exchanges, said on Thursday it sees a potential to reach about 1.5 million additional customers through the new markets.

Customers added under the ACA will get access to free virtual health screenings with doctors through the Cigna's telehealth provider, MDLive.

(Reporting by Dania Nadeem in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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