More than half of the health insurance co-ops set up under Obamacare have failed, including one in Ohio that has left almost 22,000 people scrambling for coverage.
According to
Columbus Business First, the Ohio Department of Insurance will liquidate the state's InHealth Mutual co-op because it is in financial distress.
The outlet reports that $3 million in claims were being filed at InHealth Mutual every week. The company would have had to implement a 60 percent premium hike for next year to stay above water.
This marks the 13th co-op created under the Affordable Care Act that's gone out of business. Ten more are still servicing customers but their future does not appear bright.
In February, the chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid told lawmakers on Capitol Hill
eight of the remaining 11 co-ops (including InHealth Mutual at the time) had been subjected to both "corrective action plans" and "enhanced oversight."
In March, a health insurance expert from the Wharton School told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations he believes the remaining co-ops will likely be shut down at some point.
"The future of the 11 co-ops still providing coverage in 2016 is uncertain, but future closures seem likely,"
Dr. Scott Harrington said.
The 23 nonprofit co-ops set up under Obamacare received government backing.