Aetna Inc. said Thursday that it will not be selling Affordable Care Act plans in Iowa in 2018. The development, which was first reported by Modern Healthcare, a health care publication, was prompted by “financial risk and an uncertain outlook for the marketplace,” Aetna said. The health insurer, which sold ACA plans in 2017 in four states, Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia, said it is still evaluating its participation in the three remaining states. Aetna’s decision follows an exit from the ACA exchanges by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Iowa’s largest insurer, which was announced earlier this week. The third insurer that currently has offerings on the Iowa exchanges is non-profit Medica. Health insurers have until June 21 to submit their bids for 2018, and have been contending with tremendous uncertainty around the future of the ACA, also called Obamacare. Though Republicans pulled their plan to repeal the ACA from a House of Representatives vote late last month, they’ve said they plan to try again, and it’s unclear how the law would fare under a hostile administration. Aetna shares have risen 3.0% over the last three months, compared with a 3.7% rise in the S&P 500 .
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