Next year Aetna will stop offering health insurance on the Affordable Care Act's public exchanges in Florida and 10 other states.
The move leaves Floridians with fewer choices and ever increasing rates.
So far, 11 companies have requested to sell insurance in Florida on the federal exchanges in 2017. That's down from 19 insurers in 2016. The average rate increase is nearly 18 percent, according to Florida's Office of Insurance Regulation.
Aetna's decision follows a similar announcement in May by United Health Care, whose exit will leave 44 of Florida's 67 counties with just one provider on the exchange, according to an analysis by Kaiser Health News.
Florida Blue, is the only insurer that offers plans in every Florida county. A company spokeswoman said the insurer has no plans of cutting back.
