It’s not clear whether the remaining co-ops can survive without additional funding, said Deep Banerjee, an analyst with S&P Global. The nonprofit in New Jersey won’t sell policies next year, while Maine-based Community Health Options is pulling out of New Hampshire.
More Exits
The co-op exits this year mean that at least 60,000 people will have to pick new plans for 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. If all the remaining co-ops were to fail, it could strand another 240,000 members, the data show. If that happens, Anthem may shoulder even more of the burden, Goldman Sachs’s Matthew Borsch said Aug. 23 in a note to clients.
Given its large presence on the exchanges, Anthem might be “left with a more risk-imbalanced exchange population following exits by the other public companies, and most of the remaining not-for-profit ACA co-op plans,” Borsch said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.