America’s Health Insurance Plan (AHIP) is the biggest lobbying group in the health insurance industry in USA. It is reported that most of the leading healthcare insurance companies in America are members of this group. However, recent reports indicate that some of the insurance companies are leaving this group.

The first one to leave AHIP was UnitedHealth. It left the group in June 2015. Now, following the paths of UnitedHealth, another leading insurance company, AETNA, is exiting the group. AETNA is one of the top-five insurance companies in America.

According to some reports, AETNA hasn’t officially made any announcements yet that it is leaving AHIP. However, they also mention that the company is not planning to renew its membership in AHIP this year.

AETNA’s decision to leave AHIP will certainly trigger a lot of questions from the experts in the healthcare industry. The decision will have impacts, although not directly, on the medical billing companies in California and other major cities in the USA. Top medical billing companies that work closely with the leading healthcare insurance providers will be affected by the move as well.

As per the reports, AETNA is not at all pleased by the way AHIP works at the moment. The company says that AHIP no longer represents the interest of insurance companies. It is not clear what has caused AETNA to openly criticize the operations of AHIP. But it is certain that the companies will encourage other insurance providers as well to think seriously about leaving AHIP in the coming months.

When UnitedHealht left AHIP last year, a lot of discussions were made about the role and contemporary relevance of AHIP in the healthcare industry and health insurance industry in particular. Though the discussions seemed to have stopped recently, the unexpected decision by AETNA will rekindle the debate.

Meanwhile, some other reports indicate that AETNA is planning to quit AHIP due to its plan to merge with its competitor who is not a member of the latter. The high-profile merger is expected to take place soon.

In the lights of these events, another health insurance provider, Humana, is also set to leave AHIP soon. It appears now that high-profile insurance providers are no longer in need of a lobbying group like AHIP to represent their interest.

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