Dive Brief:
- In another blow to the state's individual plan market, Oregon's Health CO-OP will fold at the end of this month, The Bend Bulletin reported.
- About 20,600 individuals will need to find new health coverage by Aug. 1.
- As ACASignups.net's Charles Gaba pointed out, the co-op thought it was set to receive $5 million under the ACA risk adjustment program. Instead, it owes $900,000.
Dive Insight:
The news came days after Connecticut's insurance department placed the state's co-op, HealthyCT, under an immediate order of supervision. The co-op had been deemed fiscally unstable after a June 30 notice that the insurer owed the federal government $13.4 million under the risk adjustment program.
The Bend Bulletin reported after Health CO-OP shuts its doors, Oregon will have two carriers selling individual health plans for 2017 in the Bend region: PacificSource Health Plans and Health Net Health Plan of Oregon.
In late 2015, Oregon's other ACA co-op, Health Republic Insurance, announced it would not offer coverage beyond 2015. This decision was spurred by the ACA risk corridor program, a different risk program baked into the ACA which was to cushion risk for carriers to take on new high-risk enrollees. In February, Health Republic filed a suit over the program as CMS last October announced it would only pay insurers 12.6 cents on the dollar that is owed to insurers through the “risk corridor” program.
The risk adjustment program is a permanent program and redistributes funds from plans with lower-risk policyholders to those with high-risk policyholders.
There are currently eight co-ops created under the ACA left standing.