Karin Zosel, executive director at Get Covered Illinois since March, has left the state public health insurance exchange.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Insurance, which absorbed the online marketplace on Aug. 1, confirmed Zosel's departure.
“Karin Zosel has been instrumental in leading Get Covered Illinois,” Alissandra Calderon, the spokeswoman for the state insurance department, said in a statement. “We appreciate her leadership throughout her time with Get Covered Illinois and wish her well with her new endeavor.”
The news comes less than three months before the third year of enrollment begins and amid big changes at Get Covered Illinois. As of Aug. 1, Zosel was one of just three leaders left at the exchange as it moved from the governor's office to the state insurance department and most Get Covered employees were laid off.
Many industry observers viewed the changes as a blow to the effort to educate Illinois consumers about Obamacare plans and question whether Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner wants a robust marketplace that was a key initiative launched by his Democratic predecessor, Pat Quinn. Besides losing Get Covered Illinois workers, who help coordinate outreach efforts across the state, potentially hundreds of counselors who help consumers navigate the often complex and confusing world of health insurance are out of jobs, too.
Zosel arrived at Get Covered Illinois in March, replacing outgoing executive director Jennifer Koehler, who led the exchange under Quinn. When Zosel took over, enrollment had surged 60 percent compared with last year's sign-ups.
Zosel returned to MacMurray College in downstate Jacksonville on Aug. 12 as its vice president of institutional advancement. She is leading alumni relations and will be chief fundraiser for the college, according to a statement on the college's website.
“I am thrilled to have the chance to return to MacMurray to assume a greater leadership role in growing the college,” Zosel said in the statement.
MacMurray, meanwhile, faces challenges of its own. As Crain's reported in May, the college is dropping majors like English, history and philosophy while steeply discounting tuition to attract students.
Zosel did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
The insurance department is searching for Zosel's replacement.
“We are committed to providing Illinois consumers with the tools and resources they need today and look forward to the next open enrollment period starting Nov. 1, 2015,” Calderon said in the statement.
The Illinois exchange was born out of the Affordable Care Act. It launched in 2013 with the goal of creating a competitive marketplace where consumers and small businesses could shop for health insurance. Illinois is among 37 states that route consumers to the federal platform, HealthCare.gov, where those who fall below certain income levels can use federal subsidies to buy health plans.
Nearly 350,000 Illinois consumers enrolled in a health plan on the exchange for the enrollment period that ended in February.
