Obama thanks insurers for sticking with his health care law

President Obama on Monday thanked insurers who will offer coverage on Obamacare’s insurance exchanges next year despite challenges that have caused companies like Aetna and UnitedHealth Group to largely withdraw from the program.

In a letter, Mr. Obama also asked the companies to help him bring more Americans into the exchanges when signups begin again on Nov. 1, so that his law is on firmer footing before he leaves office in January.

“Since the remaining uninsured are disproportionately younger and healthier, signing them up improves the risk pool and consequently the affordability of coverage for all enrollees,” Mr. Obama said.

The Affordable Care Act’s coverage provisions have been linked to a sharp decline in the uninsured rate. It dropped below 9 percent, the lowest point on record, earlier this year.

Yet major insurers have fled the new marketplace in pockets of the country, citing costlier-than-expected customers in the early rounds, and 16 out of 23 nonprofit coop plans have failed. As a result, customers in nearly a third of U.S. counties will have only one insurer to choose from on their respective exchanges in 2017, according to estimates by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Mr. Obama said his administration will continue to make changes that prevent people from gaming the system and help insurers guard against debilitating losses on the exchanges.

“We know that this progress has not been without challenges. Most new enterprises have growing pains and opportunities for improvement,” Mr. Obama said. “The Marketplace, while strong, is no exception. Time and experience will help drive that improvement, as will constructive policy changes.”

Republican critics say they’ll push to scrap Obamacare and replace it with “market-oriented” reforms, once its namesake is out of office.

Yet Democrats are trying to preserve Mr. Obama’s legacy item by doubling down on its reforms and expanding them through more generous subsidies or a “public option” — a government-run plan that would compete with private plans on the exchanges.

“Together, we have been part of historic changes to the United States health system that have improved health quality, equity, affordability, and outcomes,” Mr. Obama wrote to insurers. “But our work is not over. I look forward to our continued success.”