A federal agency says it has stopped payments of money it was to provide under a loan agreement with a Vermont health insurance cooperative set up 15 months ago.
A spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the agency had disbursed more than $14 million of nearly $34 million in expected loans to the Vermont Health CO-OP. The CO-OP's future was placed in doubt when it was denied a state license in May. It is appealing that decision.
CO-OP CEO Christine Oliver says she expects to hear from CMS by the end of the month whether it will demand repayment of the money already disbursed. She says if that happens, that will be fatal to the CO-OP.
But Oliver says she remains hopeful the CO-OP will survive.
