The health insurance giant Aetna told investors it plans to stop offering plans nationwide on the Affordable Care Act marketplace exchange next year. The ACA is also known as Obamacare and, in Georgia, is run by the state as Georgia Access. The move comes amid rising uncertainty about federal support for the marketplace in 2026. Immediately, it means 107,000 Georgians on the marketplace who currently hold Aetna policies will have to choose another carrier this fall, if they sign up for 2026 coverage.

Nearly a million people in 17 states face losing healthcare coverage after Aetna's parent company announced it would leave the federal insurance marketplace, created under the Affordable Care Act during the Obama administration. Aetna, along with various other healthcare and insurance companies, is owned and operated by the pharmacy giant CVS, which announced Aetna's withdrawal from the ACA, despite surpassing financial expectations.

CVS Health owns Aetna, a health insurance company, offering plans under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The company intends on exiting Obamacare in 2026, leaving roughly one million Aetna members across 17 states in search of new coverage next year. The decision, revealed on Thursday morning, reflects efforts by CVS' relatively new management team to address escalating healthcare costs within its Aetna healthcare insurance plans. “The company decided to exit the individual exchange business where Aetna independently operates ACA plans for 2026,” CVS shared in a statement on Thursday. “This decision is consistent with others taken this year to focus the company’s portfolio. The company is best able to serve members through its other health benefit solutions, which offer access to quality care, affordable health benefits and exceptional service. "The company will continue delivering superior service and support to its individual exchange members through 2025 and residual activities in 2026.” The Aetna members impacted by the move will need to buy new health plan coverage on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges this fall when insurers announce their 2026 benefits. The one million members enrolled in Aetna's Obamacare health insurance plans represent only a small fraction of CVS Health's total medical membership, which stood at 27.1 million as of March 31, 2025. While CVS and competitor operators of health insurance plans were hit hard across the last year with raising costs, the company has noted its improvements with handling cost trends.

Aetna is a minor player in the health insurance exchange market, and the exchanges are a small segment of the CVS Health subsidiary’s business.

Aetna is once again retreating from the Affordable Care Act market, while its parent company notched a deal with Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk that should expand access to its in-demand GLP-1 at the expense of Eli Lilly’s.