Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini and Anthem CEO Joseph Swedish testify at the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights in Washington, Sept. 22, 2015. (Bloomberg photo: T.J. Kirkpatrick)

Aetna said it will reduce by more than 500 U.S. counties its participation in public exchanges under the Affordable Care Act in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.

In 2017, Aetna said it will be in just 242 counties, down from 778. Aetna will remain on-exchange in just four states: Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia,compared to 15 states where it operates this year.

Monday night’s announcement comes after Aetna AET -0.79% said earlier this month that it would evaluate all of its individual plans in 15 states. Humana HUM -0.82% has already said it is pulling off most ACA exchanges for next year. And rival UnitedHealth Group UNH -0.09%, too, is scaling back to three states, leaving Anthem WLP +% and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans as the main Obamacare providers across the country.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2016/08/15/aetna-will-leave-obamacare-patients-in-more-than-500-u-s-counties/#4222447f5857