Robert King of the Washington Examiner documents the latest bad news plaguing the Affordable Care Act.
A nearly $150 million bill from the federal government has taxpayer-funded Obamacare plans angry, with some experts wondering if more co-ops could shut down in the coming months.
When the Obama administration last week announced payments under the risk adjustment program for the 2015 benefit year, the news wasn’t good for the 10 Obamacare consumer oriented and operated plans, or co-ops, that remain out of the 23 original plans, which owe more than $150 million to the government.
On Tuesday, the payments claimed one victim, as Connecticut’s insurance regulator shut down the HealthyCT co-op after it learned it owed $13.4 million in risk adjustment payments.
The payments come as insurance regulators must ensure that co-ops can offer plans in 2017 before open enrollment in Obamacare starts on Nov. 1.
“I do think that there will be some maneuvers or cases to be made that a couple can stumble on to the next year, but that is just putting off the inevitable,” said Tom Miller, resident fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
The 14 that have shut down have cost taxpayers roughly $1.5 billion in loans and funding, an amount the Obama administration is trying to recover.
