HHS
Applies to those who have started the enrollment process and experienced an error
Last week, the Obama administration released several new Affordable Care Act (ACA) guidelines. Of particular note, any individual or small group with a non-ACA compliant plan will be able to keep that plan in place for additional time.
- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has reported Exchange application submissions have exceeded 3 million.
- The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has updated 2014 Exchange enrollment estimates to 6 million.
- Some reports are showing that 22,000 Exchange applicants were enrolled in the wrong plan or received a lower subsidy than expected, 15,000 Exchange applications were lost and only 11% of Exchange applicants were previously uninsured.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the 2014 Federal Poverty Levels (FPL) last week. The 2014 FPL guidelines have been raised 1.5% in comparison to the 2013 FPL. The FPL is a measure of income used to determine eligibility for various government programs including healthcare, housing and food stamps. The FPL is also used as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to determine eligibility for subsidies available through the Health Insurance Marketplace, also known as the Exchange.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a report earlier this week with details about enrollment numbers and other information as it relates to state and federal insurance exchanges. Below is a list of some key information that was included in the report.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that self-funded health plans will be exempt from the reinsurance fees after the first year. The recent announcement is expected to be published in a forthcoming document with other rule modifications.
Section 3210 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) required nominal cost sharing to be added to Medicare Supplement Plans C & F. Under the current structure these Medicare Supplement plans eliminate nearly all of the cost sharing that is associated with Original Medicare.
It has been a common belief by many people that Plans C & F cause excessive and unnecessary utilization as a result of the limited cost sharing. The expectation was that Section 3210 would modify Plans C & F to include some form of a front-end deductible to encourage more appropriate uses of physician services.
The Obama administration announced last week that parts of the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) would be delayed until 2015. This announcement has created a lot of confusion in the market.
The SHOP will be a new health insurance marketplace to provide exchange-based coverage to small businesses with up to 50 employees in most states. The SHOP is still expected to be launched as planned in 2014, but one of its key components will be delayed until 2015.
Last week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released proposed regulations about the role of Navigators. The new guidance provides some clarification about the role of Navigators, but it has several producers questioning how they will be compensated for their services next year.
Navigators are organizations that will provide unbiased information to consumers about health insurance.
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