Oregon and Colorado CO-Ops Latest to Collapse - Eight out of Original 23 Out of Business for 2016
On Friday news got worse for the president’s health law as two more co-ops signaled that they would shutter in 2016. One in Oregon and one in Colorado. The news comes on the heels of Kentucky and Tennessee’s failing co-ops failing. Energy and Commerce Committee Vice Chairman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) commented, “The dominos continue to fall on Obamacare, and it’s American taxpayers who are getting the shaft. What’s the next shoe to drop?" Earlier this week news broke that the Tennessee co-op was closing.
Oct. 16, 2015
Two more Obamacare nonprofits to close
Two nonprofit health insurers set up under ObamaCare announced on Friday that they are shutting down, the latest in a string of closures due to financial problems.
The closure of the two health insurers in Colorado and Oregon means that just 15 of the original 23 co-ops will remain in business next year.
The news comes after announcements on Wednesday that Tennessee’s co-op is shutting down and last Friday that Kentucky’s co-op would shutter.
This month marks an important time for co-ops to decide whether they will continue, with the sign-up period for next year’s ObamaCare coverage beginning Nov. 1. Co-ops did not want to start offering coverage and then have to shut down in the middle of next year.
Many of the beleaguered co-ops have blamed low payouts from an ObamaCare program known as risk corridors. That program was designed to protect insurers against heavy losses by collecting money from insurers doing well and giving it to insurers faring poorly. But the Obama administration announced on Oct. 1 that the program had only taken in enough funds to pay out 12.6 percent of the $2.87 billion that insurers had requested. …
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