Summary:

The health insurer Friday Health Plans, supported by private equity, was ordered by Colorado state regulators to cease operations, leaving 30,000 policyholders without health insurance. This follows the path of Bright Health, another private equity-backed insurer that had to terminate its business, affecting hundreds of thousands of policyholders. These events highlight the risks of private equity entering an already unstable health insurance market, with over a million people losing their health insurance due to the failures of these two companies. The private equity business model, centered on profit extraction rather than provision of consistent, affordable care, often results in worse patient outcomes. The collapses expose regulatory gaps, where these insurers were approved to operate without adequate capital and oversight.