State of Iowa will ask court to liquidate CoOportunity Health

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

By Steve Jordon

After a month of trying to save the health insurance cooperative that sold coverage to 120,000 Iowans and Nebraskans last year, Iowa insurance director Nick Gerhart said Friday the company’s finances are beyond hope.

Gerhart said he would ask a court next week to liquidate CoOportunity Health because its claims exceed its cash and no new money is available from the federal government until later this year.

The liquidation, due to take effect Feb. 28 after a court hearing, means that people who bought into CoOportunity Health plans could no longer receive tax credits to offset part of their monthly premiums or, in many cases, their out-of-pocket costs. They will be responsible for paying all of their premiums.

Gerhart repeated his plea that individuals and groups who bought CoOportunity plans find health insurance with other companies. A special 60-day enrollment period will begin March 1 for those who had enrolled in CoOportunity Health, Gerhart said.

FULL story at link.

Help online: The Iowa Insurance Division website, www.iid.state.ia.us, has lists of questions and answers for policyholders.

Read more: http://www.livewellnebraska.com/consumer/state-of-iowa-will-ask-court-to-liquidate-cooportunity-health/article_d5837e8c-a335-11e4-98d8-87bf31389a76.html

---

Started with ACA funds. “the taxpayers only get their investment back when the co-ops succeed.”

[dflprincess]

1. I know a little bit about this but I can't say why

They were badly undercapitalized and didn't consider that a number of the people who signed up were going to be able to see a doctor for the first time in a long time and those costs would add up -- even if people were just getting caught up on preventive and screening tests. I've also heard that the population made far too frequent use of the ER for non-emergency reasons. Another factor that drives up costs but may also be expected among a group of people who may not have had a regular doctor for a long time.

Lots of new pregnancies among the population - probably something else women were putting off until they had insurance.

The one thing I haven't heard is if they underestimated the number of healthy young ones were going to sign up.

Finally, when they were ramping up the optimistic predictions were for a 25-30,000 sign ups. The low ball was 5,000 and the expected was around 15,000. No one saw 120,000 - which certainly speaks to how badly Coops are needed - but they were unprepared for the number they got.