Cramer : Health Insurance Co-op Bill Protects Consumers From Failed Plans

Press Release

Congressman Kevin Cramer joined a bipartisan majority of Members of the House of Representatives today in supporting legislation that protects consumers from individual mandate penalties if their coverage is terminated.

R. 954, the CO-OP Consumer Protection Act of 2016, addresses the concerns caused by the failure of the non-profit, member-run CO-OP insurance plans that were intended to increase competition in the private insurance industry. As of July, 23 CO-OPs received $2.4 billion in federal loans to assist with start-up costs and to meet state solvency standards to remain a licensed insurer under Obamacare. As of mid-September only six of the original 23 CO-OPs remain in operation. With the collapse of these plans, an estimated 800,000 people have lost insurance coverage and have been forced to find new insurers.
This bill allows individuals who had a CO-OP plan terminate mid-year to be exempt from the individual mandate and the penalties associated with it, for the remainder of the year.

Cramer said with the failure of all but six of the original Obamacare CO-OPs, the White House continues to demonstrate how not to run a health insurance program. "In three short years, President Obama has managed to squander nearly $2 billion on a failing CO-OP Program that has left participants scrambling to find a new health insurance plan to maintain coverage, or face the tax penalty of the individual mandate. It's like being punished twice for the same thing you had nothing to do with, " Cramer said. "This common sense legislation looks out for our consumers by retroactively exempting them from having to pay the individual mandate tax penalty if they are kicked off one of these failed CO-OPs."

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