Obamacare’s “Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans” (Co-Ops) are government-funded entities that sell health plans through the federal health law’s insurance exchanges. These Co-ops have been all the rage in the media as of late, mainly because half of them are failing. The Washington Times reports:

For hundreds of thousands of co-op customers, however, the experience has been anything but easy. They now find themselves rushing to find alternative plans amid a string of failures that are shutting down more than half of the 23 co-ops that have formed.

Some of the co-ops’ problems were self-inflicted because they severely miscalculated the market. The Obama administration also undermined them by cutting the potential customer base and, under pressure from Congress, cutting off funding that the co-ops expected and leaving them struggling to meet expectations. 

Read the full article here.