Cigna Is Quitting the ACA: 369,000 Need New Plans

Published August 9, 2026 · Daniel Griffin, Licensed Independent Advisor · NPN #22052447

Cigna is leaving the ACA individual market completely. Not trimming unprofitable counties, not repricing — leaving. The company announced on April 30, 2026 that it will not sell individual marketplace plans anywhere in 2027. About 369,000 people across 11 states lose their coverage on January 1, 2027.

If you are one of them, nothing happens automatically in your favour. Your plan terminates. You will be offered something else, and that something else was chosen by an algorithm matching a plan ID, not by anyone looking at your doctors or your prescriptions.

Which States Are Affected

Cigna sold individual marketplace coverage in these 11 states. Every enrollee in every one of them needs a different plan for 2027:

• Arizona
• Colorado — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Florida — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Georgia — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Illinois — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Indiana — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Mississippi
• North Carolina — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Tennessee
• Texas — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market
• Virginia — 2027 premiums and what is left in the market

Why Cigna Left

The company was direct about it. Its ACA enrollment was down 17% from 2025 and it saw no route to profitable scale. Individual coverage was a small line of business next to Evernorth, its pharmacy benefit arm and its employer plans, and it chose to put capital there instead.

The 17% is the part worth reading twice. Enrollment fell because enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025. When subsidies shrank, the healthiest and most price-sensitive customers left first — the ones whose premiums subsidise everyone else. What remains is a smaller, sicker, more expensive pool. Cigna decided that pool was not worth serving.

This Is the Second Exit in Two Years

Aetna stopped selling individual plans for 2026. Cigna follows for 2027. Two national carriers gone from the individual market in consecutive years, while the insurers who remain are filing a median 15% increase for 2027 on top of a 25.5% national average rise in 2026.

Fewer carriers means less competition, and less competition shows up in next year's prices. In some counties the practical choice is narrowing to one or two issuers.

What Happens If You Do Nothing

You will most likely be auto-enrolled into another plan by the exchange. That is not a safety net so much as a default. The replacement is picked for rough similarity in metal tier and price, not for whether your cardiologist is in network or your medication is on the formulary. People discover the mismatch in February, at a pharmacy counter.

You also lose the chance to reconsider. A carrier exit is one of the few moments when switching costs you nothing — you are moving regardless. It is the natural time to ask whether the marketplace is still your best route at all.

If You Earn Too Much for a Subsidy, Read This Part

Premium tax credits end at 400% of the federal poverty level — roughly $62,600 for a single filer. Above that line you pay the entire premium and absorb the entire increase. Nationally, unsubsidised premiums are going from about $727 to $832 a month, around $1,260 more a year per person.

For self-employed owners — contractors, dentists, agency owners, anyone running their own shop above that income line — the Cigna exit and the rate increases land at the same time, with no credit to absorb either. That is the worst version of this news.

It is also the version with the most options. Above the cliff, unsubsidised marketplace coverage is no longer automatically the cheapest route. Medically underwritten plans become worth pricing for people in good health, and they are not sold on the exchange, so you will not find them by shopping healthcare.gov. Which route wins depends on your health, your county, and whether you travel for work. It is a comparison worth running properly.

What To Do Now

1. Confirm you are affected. Check whether your plan is a Cigna policy — the carrier name is on your ID card, not the exchange's name.
2. Do not wait for the letter. Non-renewal notices land in the autumn, in the same window everyone else is shopping. Advisors are hardest to reach then.
3. List your doctors and prescriptions before you compare. Network and formulary are where auto-enrolment goes wrong.
4. Price both markets. Marketplace with any credit you qualify for, and the private side if you are above the cliff and in good health.
5. Open Enrollment runs November 1 to January 15. For coverage starting January 1 you generally need to enrol by December 15.

Sources

• Cigna Q1 2026 earnings announcement, April 30, 2026 — ACA individual market exit
• KFF, Preliminary 2027 rate filings — updated August 3, 2026
• ACASignups.net, 2027 rate change tracker — updated August 6, 2026

Enrollee counts and state list per Cigna's announcement and subsequent reporting. Confirm your own plan status with your carrier or on your exchange account.