Dive Brief:
- During a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing on the ACA co-ops, CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt supported all of the failed co-ops' decision to continue with their business in 2015, except for the one that operated in Iowa and Nebraska - CoOportunity, Morning Consult reports.
- Slavitt told Republican lawmakers during the hearing their criticism for allowing CoOportunity to enroll new members in 2015 was fair. The co-op closed in January 2015.
- The co-ops' failure has resulted in a $1.2 billion debt in federal loans and it is unlikely that most of it will be recouped, according to a report released Thursday by a Senate investigations panel.
Dive Insight:
At the hearing on Thursday Slavitt said, “I find it very difficult to criticize them, with the exception of CoOportunity, for letting their co-ops go forward.” With regards to the other failed co-ops, he said to move forward was also fair based on what information was known at the time, Morning Consult reported.
"Twelve of 23 co-ops have now failed, leaving 740,000 people in 14 states searching for new coverage and leaving the taxpayer little hope of recovering the $1.2 billion in loans HHS disbursed to those failed insurance businesses," Thursday's report on the ACA co-ops reads.
According to the report, HHS was aware of the co-ops' problems since early 2014.
“None of the failed co-ops have repaid a single dollar, principal or interest, of the $1.2 billion in federal solvency and start-up loans they received,” the report says.