Obamacare co-ops are focus of four federal investigations

Multiple federal investigators are probing the $2 billion Obamacare co-op loan program at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,The Washington Examiner has learned.

Investigators from two separate offices within HHS's Office of Inspector General are looking closely at the co-op program being fast-tracked under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

The Obamacare co-op program is also the focus of examinations by the House Energy and Commerce and Oversight and Government Reform committees headed, respectively, by Rep. Fred Upton, R-MI, and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-CA.

Twenty-four newly established Obamacare co-ops in 25 states hope to begin selling health insurance coverage to the public October 1 in competition with private sector firms.


Each of the new co-ops was selected by HHS to receive start-up loans of varying amounts that are supposed to be repaid in the future.

Because co-ops are relatively untested vehicles for selling and managing health insurance programs, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget has predicted that as many as 43 percent of the new groups will go bankrupt within a few years.

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