Another ObamaCare Co-Op Bites The Dust, As Taxpayer Costs Mount . It is Obamacare that is built on voodoo economics

Another ObamaCare Co-Op Bites The Dust, As Taxpayer Costs Mount 

By JOHN MERLINE
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY 

 View Enlarged Image

On Wednesday, the Nevada Health Co-Op announced that it will go out of business at the end of the year. This is the third out of the 23 ObamaCare-created nonprofit health plans to fail, but it isn't likely to be the last.
After getting $69.5 million in government-sponsored startup loans, Nevada's co-op saw enrollment come in far lower than expected, and claims costs far higher, resulting in a $15 million loss last year.
CEO Pam Egan said the co-op was seeing the same dismal results this year, making it impossible to provide "quality care at reasonable rates."
Democrats who designed ObamaCare created these nonprofit co-ops in the belief that they could provide price competition in ObamaCare exchanges. To get them off the ground, the federal government pumped more than $2.5 billion in startup loans and $355 million in solvency loans when things started to turn sour last year.
The costly experiment has largely been a failure.
In the first year, several co-ops charged as much or more than the private insurers. And this year, co-ops in more than a dozen states have requested double-digit premium increases. Before calling it quits, Nevada's co-op was asking for hikes as high as 27.53%.
A recent audit found that enrollment in most of the state co-ops was significantly below expectations, and costs were far higher. All but one of the 23 co-ops lost money in 2014 — more than half saw losses that were higher than Nevada's.
Earlier this year, CoOpportunity — which served members in Iowa and Nebraska — ceased operations, and the Louisiana Health Cooperative announced it would close its doors at the end of the year. Tennessee's coop had to freeze enrollment this year amid mounting losses.
The three failed co-ops received a total of $310 million in federal startup and solvency loans. Overall, $2.9 billion in federal loans is at risk.
For perspective, Solyndra — the solar panel company that famously failed early in the Obama administration — cost taxpayers $500 million.