In 2014, Community Health Options posted a profit of $7 million, making it the only Affordable Care Act co-op to do so. But in 2015, it lost $31 million and was forced to put aside $43 million to cover possible 2016 losses. For the first quarter of 2016, the co-op used $8.4 million of that sum, which is 13 percent less than it expected to use.
Still, Eric Cioppa, superintendent of the Maine Bureau of Insurance, cautioned that insurance costs often rise as the year continues. “I’m not trying to sound overly pessimistic, but at the same time, one quarter is only one quarter,” he said, according to the report.
Community Health Options covers approximately 83,000 enrollees in Maine and New Hampshire.
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