Humana to Withdraw From Individual Market, Public Exchanges in 2018

Humana on February 14 said it will withdraw from the individual commercial market in 2018, stating its initial analysis of 2017 open enrollment data pointed to “an unbalanced risk pool.”

The announcement came the same day it revealed it had terminated plans to merge with Aetna.

The majority of Humana’s individual enrollment comes from public exchanges, Humana said in its press release. As of first quarter 2016, Humana had 567,300 public exchange enrollees, according to AIS’s Directory of Health Plans’ online database, but the insurer cut back its exchange offerings for 2017.

Humana said it employed strategies “such as modifying networks, restructuring product offerings, reducing the company’s geographic footprint and increasing premiums” with the expectation that its individual commercial business would stabilize, but the insurer ultimately decided to terminate its individual coverage in 2018.

Humana will continue to provide services to its 2017 individual members.