WASHINGTON — There will be fewer choices next year for shoppers looking聽to buy聽individual insurance policies on the D.C. health exchange.
CareFirst will be the only company offering individual preferred provider聽organization plans聽on the exchange — formally known as DC Health Link — 聽in 2016.
That’s the traditional coverage that allows聽 more flexibility in choosing doctors and hospitals than health maintenance organizations, or HMOs.
Currently, there are聽two companies offering PPO plans to individuals on the DC exchange.聽The other is Aetna — but the Washington Post reports it has sent out letters to people with these plans telling them their policies are going away at the end of the year.
In the letter, Aetna says it can no longer meet the needs of its customers while remaining competitive in the market, which is dominated by CareFirst.
Only individual Aetna plans are affected. 聽The company will continue to offer coverage on the exchange through employers, including Congress.
Individual plans on the exchange are usually purchased by people who are self-employed or otherwise not able to obtain a policy through an employer.
小萝莉影视’s Paula Wolfson contributed to this report
