New 'Obamacare' insurer comes to Maricopa County as another exits

• Centene plans to team with Cigna to offer a new Affordable Care Act plan in Maricopa County next year
• Cigna will be a medical provider for Centene, but Cigna will not offer its own marketplace plan

Maricopa County residents could have a new health insurer on the Affordable Care Act exchange next year, but it might not be the insurer that many local observers thought it would be.

Missouri-based Centene Corp. is seeking regulatory approval to sell ACA marketplace health insurance in Maricopa and Pima counties next year. Cigna would join the effort as a medical provider for Centene's insurance plans in Maricopa County, but Cigna now says that it doesn't expect to offer its own marketplace insurance in Maricopa County.

Centene said it wants to sell health-maintenance organization plans under the "Ambetter" brand in Maricopa and Pima counties next year.

The latest news continues the revolving door of health insurers in Arizona's marketplace. Maricopa County residents had a robust selection of eight companies to shop from and compare this year. More than 126,000 consumers picked a plan as of Feb. 1.

Centene is poised to be the only insurance option in Arizona's largest county next year, assuming the company gains approval. Cigna had expected to offer its own exchange plan in Maricopa County, but instead will be an in-network medical provider for Centene customers.

It appears every Arizona county except Pima County will have just a single health-insurance carrier in the ACA market next year.

Arizona Department of Insurance officials will review Centene's proposal. The three-month open enrollment period for ACA insurance plans begins Nov. 1.

"The Arizona Department of Insurance is going to process these filings as quickly as possible to ensure that Maricopa County residents can get coverage," agency spokesman Stephen Briggs said.

Cigna was the only remaining insurer committed to Maricopa County's marketplace after seven others — including Centene's Health Net of Arizona — announced their exits from the individual-plan market in Arizona's largest county next year.

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With Centene's decision to offer marketplace insurance in Arizona next year, Cigna officials said the insurer no longer plans to sell individual plans next year. Instead, Cigna Medical Group will be a medical provider for consumers who purchase Centene's plans in Maricopa County, Cigna officials said.

"Cigna announced that it had entered into an agreement with Centene to support its public exchange membership through the Cigna Medical Group in Maricopa County," Cigna spokesman Joseph Mondy said in an email. "This unique collaboration ensures that quality care will be accessible for the 100,000-plus Maricopa County residents who are expected to participate in the 2017 public marketplace exchange."

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Cigna Medical Group has about 100 doctors and 50 advanced-practice nurses that Centene customers can access at lower, in-network rates. Centene has a broader choice of doctors and specialists through its Health Net of Arizona network, which has offered marketplace plans since the exchanges launched in 2014.

Unlike other insurers that cited financial losses from marketplace plans, Centene told its shareholders that it expects that offering plans in Arizona's two largest counties will contribute to profits and provide revenue of more than $500 million next year.

Federal officials hailed the cooperation between the two insurers as an innovative approach to ensuring a marketplace option will be available in Maricopa County.

"We appreciate the hard work of Cigna and Centene to develop a collaborative, innovative solution that ensures consumers in Maricopa County continue to have access to quality coverage," said Andy Slavitt, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "We will continue to support the needs of consumers, states, issuers and other marketplace stakeholders.”

Despite insurer exits that have plagued the health-care law exchanges in Arizona and other states, Obama administration officials this week touted a trio of reports they say show the signature health-care law is reshaping the American health system.

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Census figures released this week show Arizona's uninsured rate has dropped below 11 percent as Arizonans purchase subsidized plans or secure Medicaid coverage. That compares to nearly 17 percent uninsured in 2010.

Nearly 180,000 Arizona residents enrolled in and paid for health insurance on the marketplace as of March 31. About twice as many Arizonans have gained health insurance through the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program that expanded with funding from the health-care law.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials also highlighted a report showing that hospital readmissions — returning to a hospital within 30 days of discharge for a reason deemed preventable — have dropped among Arizonans enrolled in Medicare.

A Kaiser Family Foundation report released this week also showed that price increases were moderating for employer-sponsored health premiums. However, one reason for the slower growth is that employers are increasingly shifting costs to employees through higher deductibles and co-payments.

Still, the Affordable Care Act remains a topic of debate in Arizona and nationwide as November elections draw closer.

U.S. Sen. John McCain has pounced on news of the health-care law's troubles. McCain and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, will host a town hall in Phoenix Friday to discuss the law's struggles.

Last week, the senators introduced a bill to exempt consumers who live in a county with only one or no marketplace option from thelaw's individual mandate, which requires consumer to obtain health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

McCain's opponent, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick, has touted her efforts to ensure consumers in her district have health-insurance options. She urged Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona to offer a marketplace plan in Pinal County, which had no options until the insurer recently decided to offer a plan there.