The nation’s largest health provider, UnitedHealth, announced yesterday that they would exit all but a “handful” of state’s ObamaCare exchanges next year. United’s CEO noted that because of ObamaCare, the company simply could not continue participating in these exchanges.

“‘We will be down to a handful of states that we will be actively participating in the exchanges,’ Stephen J. Hemsley, chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group said in an earnings call, noting that the small market size and greater expense of patients insured through the marketplaces led the insurer to make the decision.”

 This decision means that individuals may have fewer choices and face higher costs when obtaining health insurance. Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a study detailing the potential impact should United leave the exchanges:

The true impact of UnitedHealth’s departure will vary by location, according to a new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation. That analysis found that, if United were to drop out of all the states, 1.1 million people in the exchanges would have just one option for an insurer, provided no other insurers rushed in to fill the gap.

State-by-state, the impact could be significant in some rural areas and Southern states, the Kaiser analysis found.

 While this isn’t the first time that ObamaCare has made it more difficult and more expensive for people to purchase health insurance, it is the most recent example. As choices go down and costs go up, it’s clearer every day that this law is not working and needs to be rebuilt from the ground-up so the consumer is in control, not the government.