Maryland co-op suspended from individual market

Evergreen Health Cooperative won’t be able to issue or renew plans for 2017 until regulators decide whether it can convert into a for-profit insurer.

The Baltimore Sun reports around 6,000 Evergreen customers who bought their plans through the state’s exchange will now have to pick a new plan in less in order to maintain continuous coverage next year. Enrollees may have already done so, as Evergreen hadn’t been listed on the Maryland exchange during open enrollment as regulators considered its proposal.

"The balance we tried to achieve was to give them as much time as possible to complete their work with the federal government and get them on the exchange," said Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer Jr. "By waiting until the absolute last minute—probably past the last minute—we now have the challenge of getting these folks re-enrolled in just a couple weeks."

Only five of the original 23 Affordable Care Act (ACA) co-ops are still operating. Evergreen had blamed some of its financial trouble on the ACA’s risk adjustment program, under which it owed $24 million for 2015, while not receiving the full amount it requested under the separate risk corridor program. The co-op unsuccessfully sued to delay the payment.

For more on where Evergreen customers will go and how the co-op could become a for-profit company, click on the link below: