And Then There Were 13: Ugh...Utah CO-OP becomes 10th to fail, 7th due to Risk Corridor Massacre

(sigh) Details to follow, but for the moment...

Utah insurance department confirms Arches will be the 10th health co-op to wind down. (cc: @charles_gaba)

— Adam Cancryn (@adamcancryn) October 27, 2015

@charles_gaba Yeah, insurance dept. just confirmed. Shooould be the last one, but we'll see

— Adam Cancryn (@adamcancryn) October 27, 2015

UPDATE: OK, here's the actual press release from the Utah Insurance Department, not that there's anything new here:

The Utah Insurance Department today announced that it will place Arches Health Plan in receivership. Receivership will allow the Insurance Commissioner to supervise the runoff of its existing policies. Utahns who have individual health policies through Arches should contact their insurance agent or visit Healthcare.gov during open enrollment, which begins on November 1.

"The Insurance Department has been working with Arches and the federal government to find solutions and a way for Arches to move forward. However, today all parties reached a united decision that placing Arches into receivership is the right course of action for the people of Utah," said Insurance Commissioner Todd E. Kiser.

And what was the cause of this CO-OP collapse, you might ask? Wait for it...

The move to receivership is a consequence of a shortfall in the federal government's "risk corridor" program, which was intended to protect insurers from losses by reallocating funds between insurers. On October 1, the federal government announced that it is only able to pay a fraction of the funding that insurers, including co-ops like Arches, requested from the program.

Co-ops were created under the Affordable Care Act as non-profit health insurers to offer health insurance to individuals and small employer groups. They are required to participate on Healthcare.gov and small group marketplaces, like Utah's Avenue H, as well as the broader individual market. Arches is not the first co-op to enter receivership — Nevada, Colorado and Oregon, as well as six other states, have taken similar action with their co-ops in recent months.

"It is regrettable that the co-op model has not worked across the country," said Kiser. "I want to assure you that the Utah Insurance Department supports the state's free market and works to help businesses succeed. We are proactively working with other insurers and the federal government to fill the vacancy left by Arches, particularly in the rural areas of the state."