The Ohio Insurance CO-OP Coordinated Health Mutual, Inc., formed under the Affordable Care Act, was placed under the receivership of the Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) May 26.
The nonprofit health insurer is the 13
th of such plans to fail since their creation under the health law. It sold policies in both the individual and group markets.
Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, also the director of insurance for the ODI, was appointed receiver for the insurer. The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas granted the ODI the capacity to operate the company, pay policy holder claims, and control the cash reserve held by the company.
“Our examination of the company's financials made it clear that the company's losses would prevent it from paying future claims should its operations continue,” Taylor remarked in a release.
Coordinated Health Mutual Inc. insured approximately 22,000 Ohioans under the InHealth Mutual name.
It was the company itself that asked the ODI to put it in liquidation, Taylor revealed in an interview with Bloomberg BNA May 26.
Coordinated Health Mutual had a net loss of over $79 million in 2015, and lost more than $29 million in the first quarter of 2016, Taylor further revealed.
According to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the federal government has provided $129.2 million in funding for InHealth.
Due to the receivership, the company cannot take on additional customers, but those currently enrolled can keep the coverage for 2016. Taylor, however, encouraged enrollees to shop for other plans on the ACA marketplace.
Despite the call for enrollees to look for other plans, Taylor could not provide a definitive answer on whether or not InHealth customers would be given a special enrollment period to sign up for new coverage.
“Our expectation is that CMS would say that this qualifies for a special enrollment period,” she remarked.
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