Moda Health announced this morning that the company will not file rates for Alaska’s individual medical market, both on and off the Exchange, effective January 1, 2017. It will file 2017 rates for the individual dental market. The decision to discontinue participation in the individual market does not apply to the employee and retiree dental plans administered by the State of Alaska. State of Alaska employees, retirees, and their dental providers will not see any change in the administration of the dental plan.

Jason Gootee, Moda’s Director of Alaska Sales & Service, stated, “Moda made the decision to exit the Alaska individual Medical market in order to focus on its other lines of business in the state. We remain committed to the overall Alaska market with our group medical and group and individual dental plans.”

Moda’s current and any new individual medical policyholders that enroll during 2016 will remain covered though December 31, 2016. Moda will focus on making the transition to a new medical carrier in 2017 as convenient as possible for its nearly 14,000 individual members in Alaska. Gootee added, “Moda will meet all of its commitments to these members, and we will continue to provide excellent service during this transition period.”

The company, with a fast-growing office in Anchorage, remains committed to expanding its participation in the state’s group medical market and enhancing its group and individual dental plans, which are available throughout the state.

Moda will re-evaluate the overall individual market in early 2017 and consider a possible return in future years. However, the market requires significant reform in order to be sustainable for Alaskans and for Moda. Says Gootee, “Our preliminary calculations showed that we would need a significant premium increase in 2017 to be sustainable on the individual market. At some point, you can’t keep passing these significant costs on to consumers. Like many others, we want this market to have long term sustainability and we look forward to continuing the conversations with our many statewide partners on future market reforms.”

About Moda

Founded in 1955 and headquartered in Portland, OR, Moda Health has participated in the Alaska health insurance market since 2004, with an office in downtown Anchorage. In addition to over 400,000 health plan members in Alaska and Oregon, the company covers over 1,000,000 people in these states through Delta Dental Plan of Oregon & Alaska, another member of the Moda group of companies.