Another Insurer Leaves SC Affordable Care Market

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Another insurance company is leaving the federal Affordable Care Act marketplace in South Carolina, further limiting choices for those who need coverage.

The Post and Courier reports that Aetna, which sells policies in 14 counties including the Charleston metro area, won’t offer coverage in 2017 because it’s not profitable.

UnitedHealthcare, which also sells such policies in some South Carolina counties, made a similar announcement earlier this year.

More than 220,000 South Carolinians rely on the federal health care law for insurance coverage and 8,000 of them are covered by Aetna plans.

Aetna, the nation’s third-largest insurer, plans to leave nearly 70 percent of the counties nationwide in which is now sells Affordable Care Act policies. Next year it will offer coverage in only four states, instead of 15.