Another nonprofit health insurance co-op will not sell individual health insurance plans for 2016, according to Bangor Daily News.
Maine's only health insurance co-op — Lewiston-based Community Health Options — will stop selling plans on its website after Dec. 15, and will stop selling plans through the marketplace after Dec. 26. Community Health Options will continue to sell group plans and accept plan renewals.
Once the only profitable co-op in the nation, Community Health Options — which serves 76,000 members in Maine and New Hampshire — started losing money in November due to higher-than-expected insurance claims, according to the report.
After consulting with the New Hampshire Insurance Department and the Maine Bureau of Insurance, the co-op decided to halt the sale of individual plans. Maine Bureau of Insurance Superintendent Eric Cioppa said the co-op's third quarter financial results, which revealed a significant loss, impacted the decision.
Nevertheless, Community Health Options has no intention of shutting its doors — "[n]ot in the slightest," said CEO Kevin Lewis, according to the report. Mr. Lewis said the co-op has enough funds to compensate for the expected $18 million shortfall, and will resume individual sales in the near future. "Whether that happens over the course of 2016 or its' timed in line with open enrollment for 2017 has yet to be determined," he added.
Twelve of the original 23 nonprofit co-ops have collapsed so far in 2015, primarily due to low payouts from the risk corridor program.