WASHINGTON, DC - Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services announced Friday evening that Oregon’s Health CO-OP would shutter, forcing its approximately 40,000 participants to find new coverage. This is the second CO-OP in Oregon to fail as Health Republic Insurance of Oregon closed last year. The announcement means that 15 out of the original 23 Obamacare CO-OPs have closed their doors at a total cost to taxpayers of over $1.5 billion. The closures have come at an increasingly rapid rate - 12 of the CO-OPs have collapsed since last September, with Connecticut closing last week.
“With two more closures last week, the administration has now hemorrhaged over $1.5 billion. We are talking about a mess that’s essentially three Solyndras," said Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “The CO-OPs are going down faster than the Titanic, yet there is not enough urgency coming out of the Obama administration to protect taxpayer dollars. With eight barely hanging on, what can the administration do to prevent further losses?"
CO-OPs that have failed and taxpayer dollars received (in order by closing announcement):
CoOportunity Health - Iowa and Nebraska
Cost: $145,312,100
Louisiana Health Cooperative, Inc.
Cost: $65,790,660
Nevada Health Cooperative
Cost: $65,925,396
Health Republic Insurance of New York
Cost: $265,133,000
Kentucky Health Care Cooperative - Kentucky and West Virginia
Cost: $146,494,772
Community Health Alliance Mutual Insurance Company - Tennessee
Cost: $73,306,700
Colorado HealthOp
Cost: $72,335,129
Health Republic Insurance of Oregon
Cost: $60,648,505
Consumers’ Choice Health Insurance Company - South Carolina
Cost: $87,578,208
Arches Mutual Insurance Company - Utah
Cost: $89,650,303
Meritus Health Partners - Arizona
Cost: $93,313,233
Consumers Mutual Insurance - Michigan
Cost: $71,534,300
InHealth Mutual - Ohio
Cost: $129,225,604
HealthyCT - Connecticut
Cost: $127,980,768
Oregon Health’s CO-OP - Oregon
Cost: $56,656,900
TOTAL TAXPAYER DOLLARS : $1,550,885,578
Note: This total does not include Vermont’s CO-OP, which was denied an insurance license by the state, and was dissolved before enrolling a single person.
