Anthem pulling out of 20 Ohio counties

Van Wert independent/submitted information

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announced that it is pulling out of 20 counties in Ohio, including Van Wert and Paulding counties, leaving those counties with essentially no available individual healthcare insurance options.

In the wake of the news, both of Ohio’s U.S. senators, as well as Fifth U.S. House District Representative Bob Latta, made statements on the announcement.

Predictably, Latta and U.S. Senator Rob Portman, both Republicans, blamed Anthem’s leaving on problems related to Obamacare.

“The failure of Obamacare continues to harm Ohio families,” he said. “With this announcement, many constituents in the district I represent will face the prospect of having no available options to purchase insurance, while others will be forced to choose from only one option.

Latta also talked about Congressional efforts to repeal Obamacare and create a better healthcare program.

“The current system is unsustainable,” he noted. “I voted to repeal Obamacare and replace it with patient-centered health care that would give more flexibility to states, lower costs, and increase choice for patients in order to provide desperately needed relief for Ohioans.

“Today’s announcement is a wake-up call — Obamacare is broken and will only get worse if nothing is done,” he added.

Senator Portman also put the onus on Obamacare for Anthem’s leaving the state.

“Without true competition and choice in the market, we will never be able to lower health costs for families and small businesses,” Portman said. “This is one more reason why the status quo on health care is unsustainable.”

Portman noted his belief that the Affordable Care Act has “failed to meet the promises that were made to Ohio families. We can, and must, do better than Obamacare, but we should do it in a way that protects the most vulnerable in our society.”

Also predictably, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) blamed the Trump Administration for what Anthem called the “uncertainty” created by plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and President Trump’s repeated threats to stop Cost Sharing Reduction (CSR) payments that reduce out-of-pocket costs for Ohioans buying insurance on the individual market.

“The dangerous game President Trump and Washington politicians are playing just caused 70,000 paying customers in Ohio to lose their insurance, and it will continue raising prices for everyone else; it’s got to stop,” Brown said. “We are talking about people’s lives their ability to get cancer treatment, afford life-saving medicines, and take their kids to the doctor.

“Instead of using working families as bargaining chips and driving up prices across the market, we need to work together to lower costs and make healthcare work better for everyone,” Brown added.

In addition to Van Wert, other counties affected by Anthem’s leaving — all smaller, more rural counties — include Auglaize, Mercer, Logan, Hancock, Crawford, Knox, Holmes, Coshocton, Harrison, Muskingum, Guernsey, Perry, Morgan, Noble, Hocking, Vinton, Jackson, and Lawrence.