Credit unions in Iowa and Nebraska that offered health insurance to members through a failed exchange will not experience any service interruptions, Iowa Credit Union League Vice President of Member Services Jim Niederhauser told CU Times.
That's because the 46 credit unions had already transitioned to CUNA Mutual Group's new health insurance product or another provider, he said.
Not-for-profit health insurance exchange CoOportunity Health, which was formed after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, was seized by the Iowa Insurance Commissioner Dec. 23 due to insufficient capital.
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"We were notified by CUNA Mutual Group that they were going to enter the health insurance market and were going to use their existing TruStage model," Niederhauser said. "We got in touch with CoOperative Health and determined over the course of time that we would reshape the relationship we had with them."
Over the last several months, credit unions that had partnered with CoOpertunity Health transitioned to CMG or to another provider, or discontinued offering health insurance to members, Iowa League Member Outreach Coordinator Andrea Dose said.
No credit unions were unable to offer insurance as a result of the corrective action, she added.
"Those credit unions that had ongoing relationships with CUNA Mutual Group were able to just plug into health insurance using that TruStage model," she said.
Niederhauser said both CMG and CoOportunity Health work with insurance provider GoHealth, which made the transition even easier for participating credit unions.
Still, Niederhauser said he was shocked by the news CoOportunity Health was forced into a regulator rehabilitation plan.
"We were very disappointed to hear the news, because we had a great relationship with CoOportunity Health and their leadership," he said. "Obviously, there is more to be learned, but we are very thankful CUNA Mutual entered this market so we didn't see any disruption."
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