Iowans to get more healthcare choices

Iowans searching for health care plans on the state's marketplace website are going to see new names and options this fall.

On Friday, the Iowa Insurance Division announced that seven companies have applied to sell insurance through the federal marketplace, Healthcare.gov. These Affordable Care Act plans are eligible for federal subsidies.

'It's great to see Iowans will have choices available to them when choosing their health insurance coverage for 2016,” Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart said in a news release.

Coventry Health Care of Iowa Inc. and Medica Insurance Co. will sell individual plans statewide, while United Healthcare of the Midlands will sell individual plans in at least 76 counties, including Linn and Johnson.

United Healthcare Insurance Co. will sell small-group plans statewide. Several other companies will sell plans in about a dozen smaller communities, including Sanford Health Plan - which will sell small-group plans in 10 counties - as well as Avera Health Plans and Gundersen Health Plan, which will sell individual and small-group plans.

The influx is a shift from last year's open enrollment period, which had plans from only two insurers - CoOportunity Health and Coventry Health Care.

The Insurance Division was forced to take over CoOportunity in the midst of open enrollment when the non-profit insurer had too many members for its reserves and not enough cash on hand. The division began liquidating the company in February.

CoOportunity Health's collapse left Coventry Health Care - a division of Aetna Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier - as the only insurer offering subsidy-eligible plans on the state exchange.

Wellmark, the state's dominant insurer, has been cautious to join the exchange and announced Monday it would remain off the marketplace for a third year in a row.

Open enrollment for the exchange will begin Nov. 1.