A sign on Denver’s 16th Street Mall urges people to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act on March 24, 2014. (Kathryn Scott Osler, Denver Post file)
Colorado’s insurance commissioner is poised to take control of Denver-based Friday Health Plans, the state said Wednesday, shortly after the company said it expected to lay off its entire workforce by early July.
The Colorado Division of Insurance said Wednesday afternoon that it had filed a court petition seeking to put the company into “rehabilitation,” which would include Commissioner Michael Conway being appointed as receiver.
In that role, Conway would administer the company’s assets and “take any necessary actions to protect policyholders, creditors, claimants and the public,” the insurance division said in a news release.
Friday has consented to the rehabilitation order, although the court still needs to approve it.
“We urge their continued cooperation to avoid policyholder disruption both in Colorado and in other states to the greatest extent possible,” Conway said in a statement.
The move came days after Friday told the state labor department in a letter that it expects to lay off its entire 323-person Colorado workforce between this Friday and July 6, raising questions about how existing policyholders would be affected.
Friday Health announced earlier this month it planned to cease operations. But the company and regulators had previously said current customers would be able to remain on their plan until it expired, implying that there would be staff on hand to assist customers and process claims.
In the letter to the state dated Monday, however, Friday CEO Elizabeth Bierbower said the company was unable to obtain the funds needed for it “to continue servicing our policyholders.”
“FHP has learned that the timing for the wind-down is heavily dependent on state regulators’ efforts to transition policyholders and whether there is a need for FHP to continue providing administrative services for claims runout,” Bierbower wrote.
Friday didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The insurance division previously said Friday has about 30,000 customers in the state.
Friday was founded in 2015 as Melody Health Insurance and changed its name in 2017, when it acquired Alamosa-based Colorado Choice Health Plans. The company began offering plans outside Colorado in 2019 and by 2022 was in seven states. It scaled back to five states this year.
Regulators in multiple states have taken action against the company, including putting the company’s local operations into receivership.
“Friday’s problems are national — the company’s aggressive growth in other states around the country got ahead of their financing,” Conway said this month.
Friday is headquartered at 1777 S. Harrison St. in Denver, and also has a large base of workers at 700 Main St. in Alamosa.
In the layoff notice, the company listed the job titles of all its workers. They include 63 “care crew representatives,” 17 nurse coordinators, three “denial specialists” and one CEO.
A sign on Denver’s 16th Street Mall urges people to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act on March 24, 2014. (Kathryn Scott Osler, Denver Post file)
Colorado’s insurance commissioner is poised to take control of Denver-based Friday Health Plans, the state said Wednesday, shortly after the company said it expected to lay off its entire workforce by early July.
The Colorado Division of Insurance said Wednesday afternoon that it had filed a court petition seeking to put the company into “rehabilitation,” which would include Commissioner Michael Conway being appointed as receiver.
In that role, Conway would administer the company’s assets and “take any necessary actions to protect policyholders, creditors, claimants and the public,” the insurance division said in a news release.
Friday has consented to the rehabilitation order, although the court still needs to approve it.
“We urge their continued cooperation to avoid policyholder disruption both in Colorado and in other states to the greatest extent possible,” Conway said in a statement.
The move came days after Friday told the state labor department in a letter that it expects to lay off its entire 323-person Colorado workforce between this Friday and July 6, raising questions about how existing policyholders would be affected.
Friday Health announced earlier this month it planned to cease operations. But the company and regulators had previously said current customers would be able to remain on their plan until it expired, implying that there would be staff on hand to assist customers and process claims.
In the letter to the state dated Monday, however, Friday CEO Elizabeth Bierbower said the company was unable to obtain the funds needed for it “to continue servicing our policyholders.”
“FHP has learned that the timing for the wind-down is heavily dependent on state regulators’ efforts to transition policyholders and whether there is a need for FHP to continue providing administrative services for claims runout,” Bierbower wrote.
Friday didn’t respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The insurance division previously said Friday has about 30,000 customers in the state.
Friday was founded in 2015 as Melody Health Insurance and changed its name in 2017, when it acquired Alamosa-based Colorado Choice Health Plans. The company began offering plans outside Colorado in 2019 and by 2022 was in seven states. It scaled back to five states this year.
Regulators in multiple states have taken action against the company, including putting the company’s local operations into receivership.
“Friday’s problems are national — the company’s aggressive growth in other states around the country got ahead of their financing,” Conway said this month.
Friday is headquartered at 1777 S. Harrison St. in Denver, and also has a large base of workers at 700 Main St. in Alamosa.
In the layoff notice, the company listed the job titles of all its workers. They include 63 “care crew representatives,” 17 nurse coordinators, three “denial specialists” and one CEO.
