A startup specifically designed to sell Obamacare is quitting Obamacare (UNH, AET, HUM)
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Harken Health Insurance, a startup and part of UnitedHealthcare that offered low-cost health plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges, is leaving the marketplace.
Harken had been launched in early 2016 to create tailored plans that would make money in the ACA, better known as Obamacare exchanges.
UnitedHealthcare, the parent company, has also rolled back its offerings through the exchanges due to financial losses.
Harken offered plans in Chicago and Georgia, but will no longer in 2017. The insurer had previously announced in August that it would not expand into the South Florida exchanges as it had planned.
"Harken Health remains committed to our innovative model of insurance paired with access to relationship-based care and we look forward to continuing to offer plans to individuals and employers who purchase coverage outside of the exchange," said the company in a statement to Business Insider.
The firm said it will continue to offer plans in various states to individuals outside of the Obamacare exchanges.
The move by Harken is the second Obamacare-focused startup that has rolled back ACA plans. Oscar, the online health-insurance startup that works through the exchanges, announced in August that it would pull out of two exchanges — in Dallas and New Jersey.
Large firms such as Aetna, UnitedHealth, and Humana have also pulled large portions of their Obamacare offerings earlier in 2016.
All of the firms have said that the pool of customers they have covered through the exchanges have been older and sicker (and thus more expensive) than they expected.
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