Obamacare, unsustainable

The operating losses continue to mount at struggling Land of Lincoln Health, totaling $90.8 million for the Obamacare health plan in 2015.

That net loss is almost five times greater than the Chicago-based startup reported in 2014, when it totaled $17.7 million. The insurer lost about $40 million in just the last three months of 2015, according to a new financial statement filed with national insurance regulators.

Jason Montrie, Land of Lincoln president and interim CEO, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Kevin Scanlan, chairman of the insurer's board of directors, said in a statement: "Land of Lincoln Health, like other insurers across the market, continues to adjust its business model as we learn how to best adapt to the new marketplace. . . .The board is confident in its long-term viability and will continue to evaluate and invest in the needs of our members.”

Touted by small businesses as an alternative to big insurers, Land of Lincoln was one of 23 co-ops nationwide spawned by the Affordable Care Act to create competition on the health insurance exchanges and force down prices. It was the only one in Illinois.

But just three years in, 12 of the 23 co-ops had closed as of Jan. 30, according to Sabrina Corlette, senior research fellow at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. They were beset by sick and expensive enrollees, legacy insurers with deeper pockets and federal funding that disappeared.