Helena, Mont.-based health insurer New West Health Services will shutter by mid-2017, KBZK reports.
Established in 1998, the insurer will cease its Medicare Advantage coverage for 14,000 policyholders by the end of the year. Another 1,000 customers who hold Medicare supplement plans could be transferred to another insurer. In addition, New West will begin laying off 84 employees later this year.
"We take pride in the service we have provided Montanans over the past 18 years," New West CEO Angela Huschka said in a release. "However, with the increased complexity in this industry and the new challenges that affect our ability to break even, we are not able to make this insurance plan financially successful."
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