Opportunity Ahead
“We’re looking at 2015 as an opportunity to just do what we hoped to do in 2014 -- but with a lot of experience under our belt,” she said.
At the same time, co-ops in Michigan and Tennessee haven’t grown at the rate of peers because they initially over-priced their plans relative to competitors, spokesmen for the companies said.
“2014 is preparation, really, for ’15,” said David Eich, a spokesman for Consumers Mutual, the Michigan co-op, in a telephone interview. “We’re going to be really engaged back on the individual market.” He said the company isn’t in danger of going out of business.
About 16 percent of the loans are for the co-ops’ start-up expenses, such as leasing office space and hiring staff, and must be repaid in five years. The rest is to be saved to meet state regulatory requirements for insurers’ financial reserves, and is due in 15 years.
Opponents Remain
Some Republicans, meanwhile, still contend taxpayers remain at risk of losing much of the money loaned to the companies. At a Feb. 5 hearing on the co-ops, Representative James Lankford of Oklahoma called the program “an investment disaster,” and said there remains “the possibility that American taxpayers will be left on the hook.”
Along with Maine, co-ops have attained large market share in New York, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Kentucky, Wisconsin, South Carolina, Utah, Montana, Nevada and New Mexico, said John Morrison, a board member and founding president of the co-op trade group, and other executives.
New York’s co-op, Republic Insurance of New York, which was founded by the same organization, Freelancers Union, that started Bonder’s company in Oregon, is probably the largest in the country, with more than 50,000 members. It was second in market share to WellPoint’s Empire brand on the state’s exchange as of the end of December, according to data from the exchange, New York State of Health.
Planned Expansion