South Carolina will become the fifth state to have only one Obamacare insurer when open enrollment starts next month.
State residents will be able to buy plans only from Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina for 2017, after insurers Aetna and UnitedHealth leave the state, according to the Post and Courier newspaper.
South Carolina will join Alaska, Alabama, Oklahoma and Wyoming as states that have one Obamacare insurer.
The states have been hit hard by defections from Aetna and UnitedHealth, which both pulled out of most of their Obamacare marketplaces due to financial losses. But other insurers also have exited, such as Humana, which has pulled out of four of the 15 states it offers plans in. And most of Obamacare’s consumer oriented and operated plans have collapsed, limiting consumer options.
Blue Cross is expected to raise premiums by an average 27 percent next year, the Post and Courier said.
It isn’t the only place to see big price hikes. An estimate from the independent acasignups.net found that 25 states will have an average increase of nearly 25 percent for next year.
Open enrollment starts Nov. 1 and ends in January.
The Obama administration has been trying to assuage insurers that it can boost enrollment. It hopes to target people who have recently lost insurance or paid the penalty last year for not having insurance.
The administration put out a report on Tuesday that said about 2.5 million people are eligible to get Obamacare subsidies but do not.
