As insurers pull out, Obamacare sign comes down in Fort Worth

It was a sign of the times, and now it’s gone.

A bright red Obamacare enrollment sign put up by an insurance agency in downtown Fort Worth to tout federally subsidized policies made possible by the Affordable Care Act has come down in recent weeks.

It disappeared just as several big health insurers — Aetna, Scott & White, Cigna and UnitedHealth — announced they would be pulling out of the Texas marketplace.

But there’s more to the story.

American Health Underwriters, which put up the sign in early 2014, sold the building and relocated following the death of its founder, James Cashion Jr., in April, said Linda Greene, chief financial officer. The business, which had been at 830 Taylor St. for 30 years, is now located at 1525 Merrimac Circle, near the Trinity River across from University Park Village.

The Obamacare sign won’t be used at the new site, Greene said. With insurers announcing their withdrawal from the Texas market — only Blue Cross Blue Shield will provide ACA policies in Tarrant County next year — American Health Underwriters is moving in a new direction and will shift to focus on Medicare supplement policies.

“It’s hard to stay in that business when you only sell it for three months,” Greene said.

This story was originally published September 22, 2016 at 10:04 AM with the headline "As insurers pull out, Obamacare sign comes down in Fort Worth."