The Patriot Post® · Largest ObamaCare Co-Op Admits Failure, Starts Closing Shop

Joining three other ObamaCare health care co-ops that already found themselves unable to operate in the current health care landscape, Health Republic, the co-op servicing the State of New York, started closing down its operation Friday, Sept. 25. “[A]fter coordinating with state and federal regulators, Health Republic will begin winding down operations in an orderly manner starting today,” CEO of Health Republic Debra Friedman wrote to the co-op’s members. “While we are deeply disappointed with this outcome, we believe it is in the best interests of our members. Starting a new insurance company is a daunting task in any environment, but the systemic challenges placed on us by the structure of the CO-OP program were simply too difficult to overcome.” In other words, ObamaCare’s worst enemy in this case was its own regulations. As The Daily Signal reported, the government loaned out $265 million to get the co-op off the ground. You shall know the program by its fruits: In this case, an effort by ObamaCare to provide more solutions and health care “competition” yielded government waste and failure. Surprise!