Arizona: You've gotta be kidding me. Scratch another CO-OP off the list.

Hat tip to Politico's Paul Demko for the story (subscription only) and Katie Jennings for the tip. According to the Arizona Dept. of Insurance, an 11th CO-OP is being pulled off of the ACA exchange literally hours (as in, less than 24 hours) before the launch of the 2016 Open Enrollment Period:

Meritus Health Placed Under Supervision

Two Arizona health insurance companies have been placed under supervision by the Arizona Director of Insurance, Andy Tobin.  Director Tobin filed an Order for Supervision on October 30, 2015, to place Meritus Health Partners and Meritus Mutual Health Partners into supervision.  Meritus declined to consent to the Order for Supervision.  The Meritus companies’ ability to write new policies or renew existing policies is suspended.  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has removed the Meritus plans from the Marketplace.  Director Tobin, appointed as Supervisor under Arizona law, will oversee the two companies.

Under Supervision, both Meritus companies will honor their individual and group health insurance plans through the end of 2015.  As part of the Order for Supervision, Meritus may not issue new policies or renew existing policies.  Current Meritus policyholders should seek new coverage for 2016 when Open Enrollment begins November 1, 2015.  An affected policyholder may contact the Marketplace to inquire about a Special Enrollment Period, if the policyholder needs more time to select a non-Meritus plan.  Currently, there are expected to be eight companies on the Exchange in Arizona representing roughly 120 individual plans, and three companies offering approximately 15 small group plans.  There are additional plans available off the Marketplace, as well.

Meritus is listed as 2 separate companies, but I believe that's just a legal technicality (I'm assuming one is for PPOs, the other for HMOs?). The fact that the Arizona CO-OP is going down isn't surprising at this point; the only shocker is the fact that they cut it this close to open enrollment before making the announcement.

OK, time to update the scoreboard again:

• 2 CO-OPs operating in 3 states turning a profit (ME/NH, NJ)
• 4 CO-OPs operating in 5 states treading water (IL, MT/ID, OH, WI)
• 6 CO-OPs holding on by the skin of their teeth (CT, MD, MA/NH, MI, NM, OR)
• 1 CO-OP already dissolved (IA/NE)
• 10 CO-OPs being dissolved (NV, LA, NY, KY, TN, CO, OR, SC, UT, AZ)