Aetna drops Delaware Medicaid plan

Aetna will shut down its Delaware Medicaid plan by year-end after the insurer and the state couldn't agree on new managed-care rates.

Delaware has contracts with Aetna and UnitedHealthcare to provide insurance for the 230,000 low-income individuals on Medicaid in exchange for fixed monthly payments. Those contracts expire at the end of the year. After several months of protracted talks, neither Aetna nor the state could agree to new reimbursement rates.

Instead, Delaware awarded a three-year contract to Highmark, effective Jan. 1. Highmark is a Blue Cross and Blue Shield subsidiary based in Pittsburgh. UnitedHealthcare's agreement also was renewed for three years.

Aetna has 137,000 members in its Delaware plan.