Community Health Options Leaving NH

Community Health Options will withdraw its business from NH in 2017 in an effort to focus on its core market in Maine. This will leave11,581 people in NH looking for a new insurance provider and includes both individuals on the NH Health Exchange and group coverage.

 

“We think it is in the best long-term interest of consumers and the company itself for Health Options to focus on its core business in its home state as it works through financial issues,” says NH Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny. “In the meantime, Health Options policyholders in New Hampshire will have four insurance companies and numerous plans to choose from when open enrollment for 2017 coverage begins on November 1.”  

 

Health Options now has a total of 66,157 members. The company began selling plans in Maine in 2014 and expanded into NH in 2015. During its first years, Health Options saw high enrollment but also experienced higher-than-expected costs in the form of claims from its enrollees. In December 2015, the company announced that it would curtail new sales of 2016 individual plans in both Maine and NH to curb financial losses in the form of additional claims.   

New Hampshire residents who are Health Options members will receive a letter from Health Options in the next few weeks notifying them directly that Health Options coverage will not be available in 2017. In order to ensure continued coverage, these NH members must select a new plan during open enrollment for the state’s health insurance marketplace, which begins Nov. 1.  

 

Consumers who enroll in a new plan by Dec. 31 will have no gap in coverage, as the Health Options plans will remain in effect until the new coverage begins on Jan. 1, 2017; however, the Insurance Department advises residents to select a new plan by Dec. 15 in order to ensure a smooth transition. Consumers who have Health Options coverage through their employer will continue to receive coverage until their plan’s renewal date; questions should initially be directed to the employer.  

 

“We have worked closely with Community Health Options and with the state of Maine to ensure that the company’s withdrawal from New Hampshire would be minimally disruptive to policyholders here,” says Sevigny. “My hope is that this plan to focus on its core market in Maine will help Health Options regain its footing and ultimately return to New Hampshire’s health insurance market.”