Charleston, S.C.-based Consumers' Choice Health Plan, a failed health insurance co-op, filed a lawsuit against the federal government claiming the government's inability to pay reinsurance payments led to its 2015 collapse, The Post and Courier reports.
CCHP was set up under the ACA as a nonprofit health insurance co-op to increase competition and offer affordable coverage, the report states. While the insurer sold coverage on HealthCare.gov for two years to tens of thousands of South Carolina members, it shuttered in 2015 due to financial hardship.
Ray Farmer, director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance and designated liquidator of CCHP, filed the lawsuit last week in federal court. The suit claims the federal government owes the health plan $36.9 million in reinsurance payments. Under the ACA, the reinsurance program aimed to temporarily stabilize premiums during the health law's initial implementation.
CMS told The Post and Courier it "has no comment on this or any active litigation."