Bankrupt Insurer Leaves Many New Yorkers in the Lurch

When state insurance regulators announced Health Republic's collapse last month, many of the non-profit company's 200,000 customers in New York thought they were covered through the end of 2015. In recent days, it has slowly become clear that the popular insurance exchange plan will not last that long.

Many customers are likely to go uninsured for December and pick up coverage again in January. But those with ongoing health needs have until November 15 to pick a new plan in order to have continuous coverage for next month.

Amy O'Connor, of Warwick, cannot afford a gap in insurance. Her son has Type-1 diabetes and relies on a costly setup that includes a disposable insulin pump and an apparatus that alerts her if his blood sugar spikes. O'Connor has spent many hours on the phone for each of the past three days, trying to determine whether what's left of Health Republic can provide any of her son's supplies next month and whether any of the other plans cover his precise regimen.

"I cannot seem to find a company, or a representative, that can tell me which pieces of equipment are covered under their insurance plan," O'Connor said.

Advocates and some elected officials are calling on New York's Department of Financial Services, which was supposed to make sure Health Republic had sufficient funds to operate, to help consumers transition to new plans. The Department has said it is helping coordinate the absorption of Health Republic's customers into new plans, but it's not clear what that will mean to people like O'Connor who have already paid thousands of dollars for services and supplies they can no longer receive.

"I was on the telephone for hours today and the state told me, 'The best we can do is tell you to obtain coverage,'" she said. "I know that, and I'm working on that. But what is the government's responsibility? You shut the company down, but what is your responsibility now to the people whose lives are dependent on this medical care?"