CVS Health Will Expand Obamacare Plans To 12 States

CVS Health plans to grow its business of selling individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act for 2023 to four new states.

The disclosure during the company’s second quarter earnings call Wednesday morning comes a year after CVS Health’s Aetna health insurance unit announced a return to the business of selling individual coverage, also known as Obamacare, under the ACA. CVS left the ACA’s public exchanges five years ago along with other insurers that were unable to manage rising costs of uninsured patients signing up for such coverage.

But the Biden administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress have made moves to bolster the health law and expand health insurance options to more Americans. Thus, health insurers like Aetna and others are expanding into new markets, boosting Obamacare enrollment to record numbers of Americans.

“As we continue to build our Individual exchange business, we’re on track to expand coverage where we currently have individual exchange offerings and are obtaining final approvals to add 4 new states to our portfolio, bringing our total to 12 states,” CVS chief executive Karen S. Lynch told analysts and investors Wednesday morning on a call to discuss second quarter earnings.

CVS’ Aetna unit sells an array of health insurance coverage including Medicaid benefits for poor Americans and Medicare Advantage for seniors. The expansion to selling individual coverage via the government’s public exchanges to more states will begin with the 2023 health benefit plan year.

CVS said Wednesday that one of the states it would be entering next year is California in “select counties,” but the company didn’t disclose other states the company would be entering. Consumers can begin to sign up for individual coverage under the ACA in November during open enrollment that will run until Jan. 15, 2023.