The Dallas Morning News reports: “Aetna is the latest health insurance provider to say it will stop offering plans on the Affordable Care Act’s health exchange marketplace next year.
“But even as federal officials maintain that there will be many affordable coverage options for most consumers, some rural Texas counties are more likely to feel the impact of dwindling options. …
“When for-profit insurers compete, there’s no way to guarantee everyone will get services, added Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, cofounder of Physicians for a National Health Program.
“‘It doesn’t work financially,’ said Woolhandler, whose group has long supported a single-payer system. ‘What you need is a situation like “Medicare for all” where there is no cherry-picking,’ she said.
“In the meantime, competitors can pull out of markets they deem unprofitable, leaving only one company standing.
“‘That’s not an option… it’s take it or leave it,’ says Woolhandler.”
Available for interviews:
STEFFIE WOOLHANDLER, M.D., himmelhandler[at]
Dr. Woolhandler is the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, She is a professor at City University of New York at Hunter College who sees patients in the South Bronx.
She said today: “Aetna and other insurance giants will only sell coverage to patients on whom they can make a profit. This is why we need to evict the insurance companies, and a enact non-profit, single-payer, Medicare-for-all program.”
