A local family that bought what they thought was a premium plan discovered they were going to have to pay thousands of dollars per year out of pocket for what other insurance plans would have covered.

Nearly 67,000 customers of Consumers’ Choice Health Insurance will have to shop for new insurance at the end of the year when the company shuts down its operations in 2016.

The state Department of Insurance made the announcement on Thursday. The company and the state agency did not give specifics on what precipitated the closure, only saying a look at long-term sustainability showed problems.