About 40,000 people will lose their health insurance in the coming months as a result of a state evaluation that has deemed the financial health of Connecticut’s nonprofit health care co-op unstable.
The co-op, HealthyCT, was issued an order of supervision from the state's insurance department Tuesday after it became clear a new federal requirement for the provider to pay $13.4 million would leave its finances in disarray. The order prevents the co-op from issuing any new insurance policies – a measure designed to protect consumers. Co-op CEO Kenneth Lalime said existing health insurance plans will remain in effect until the dates they were originally set to expire.
HealthyCT is required to pay the hefty sum because of a federal risk adjustment program built into the Affordable Care Act. It takes profits from certain health care providers with less risk and shifts those funds to other providers with higher risk. A statement from the insurance department Tuesday says this redistributes "funds from insurers with generally healthier policyholders to companies with sicker policyholders and higher claims costs."
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