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Medica Becomes Third Insurer To Join Kansas City Affordable Care Act Exchange In 2019

Medica began selling insurance plans on the exchange last year to customers in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.
agilemktg1 / Creative Commons-Flickr
Medica began selling insurance plans on the exchange last year to customers in Johnson and Wyandotte counties.

Insurance customers in Kansas City will have an additional option on the Affordable Care Act marketplace starting in 2019.

Medica, an insurance company based in Minneapolis, announced Monday it will sell individual plans on the exchange to customers in Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties in Missouri. It began selling insurance plans on the exchange last year to Kansas customers in Johnson and Wyandotte counties. 

The insurer's coverage is mainly limited to providers in the Saint Luke's Health System.

ACA marketplaces have been plagued by volatility since they started in 2014, but Medica spokesperson Greg Bury says the company is committed to staying in the Kansas City market.

"When we go into a market, we go in for the long run," Bury said.

Medica's entrance will bring the total number of ACA insurers in Kansas City to three, joining Cigna and Centene. 

Most Missouri counties outside of the Kansas City and St. Louis areas have only one insurer option on the ACA exchange. At one point, there was concern that Kansas City would fall into that category after Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City and Humana announced they would exitthe Missouri health insurance marketplace in 2018.

Health economists say that consumers benefit from multiple insurers selling in markets because competition helps keep prices lower and induce insurers to improve their products.

Proposed rates for ACA plans in Missouri will be released by the state insurance department in August.

Alex Smith is a health reporter for KCUR. You can reach him at alexs@kcur.org

Copyright 2021 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3.

Alex Smith began working in radio as an intern at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters. A few years and a couple of radio jobs later, he became the assistant producer of KCUR's magazine show, KC Currents. In January 2014 he became KCUR's health reporter.