After Dec. 26, Maine-based Community Health Options, a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP),

... will stop selling individual insurance policies for the 2016 plan year. The CO-OP also sells coverage in New Hampshire. This decision is "a consequence of significant enrollment growth" over the last two years and higher-than-expected claims costs in 2015, the company explained on its website Dec. 10. The company asserted that its finances are secure and that it is not ending operations. The CO-OP, which has more than 80% of Maine's exchange enrollment, lost more than $17 million in the first nine months of 2015, after making $10.9 million in the same period last year, according to the Maine Bureau of Insurance. Since the beginning of the year, 12 out of 23 CO-OPs have said they would end operations on Jan. 1 ..