Court rules govt. owes Oregon insurer $241 million

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – The U.S. Court of Claims has ruled that the federal government must pay an Oregon health insurer $241 million for failing to follow through on its promises.

The Oregon/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2lqyajs ) that the court determined Thursday that the government has yet to fulfill an agreement with Moda Health regarding its risk corridor program.

The program promised assistance to companies if they agreed to participate in the insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act before it lost money.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid paid out just over $11 million to Moda in 2014 but gave nothing in 2015 or 2016.

Other Oregon insurers affected by the promised risk corridor money that never materialized include Health Republic and Oregon’s Health Co-op.

Health Republic is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit of insurers.