Hawaii became the latest state to shut down its online health insurance marketplace after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began cutting back on grant funds because its exchange was out of compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Hawaii exchange enrolled only 8,500 persons in the first year of Obamacare, costing the state $24,000 per sign-up, the highest average in the nation.

Along with the website shutdown, the state’s 73-member marketplace/outreach workforce will be laid off by Feb. 28, 2016.

The Aloha State thus joins a growing list of states that have jettisoned their online exchanges either permanently or temporarily.

Oregon, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Mexico and Nevada are in the temp-perm category, while Colorado, Minnesota and Vermont are contemplating joining their ranks.

The shutdowns are ominous given the possibility the Supreme Court could end all health care subsidies except to residents of states that operate their own exchanges.


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