The consumer operated and oriented plans (co-ops) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were intended to provide consumers purchasing coverage in the non-large group marketplace an alternative from the traditional insurance companies. The co-ops set low premiums in order to attract customers, but in the first year of operation, all but four co-ops lost more than $1,000 per enrollee, with only one co-op (Maine Community Health Options) having a positive net income in 2014. Accordingly, 12 of 23 co-ops have collapsed so far, resulting in a loss of $1.23 billion of taxpayer funds, as these co-ops were initially seeded with federal loans.
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