Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Insurers: Allowing States To Define Essential Benefits Would Confuse Customers, Disrupt Marketplace
Health insurers fear they will be on the hook for greater healthcare costs if the CMS finalizes its proposal to allow states to define their own essential health benefits starting in 2019. In comments to the CMS, insurance companies that sell plans on the individual and small groups markets also said that giving states the ability to update their benchmark plans annually would confuse consumers and undermine the markets' stability. (Livingston, 11/27)
For plans sold on and off the exchange, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona had an average premium increase of 51 percent, while Ambetter raised rates 74.5 percent in Maricopa County for 2017, according to Arizona Department of Insurance rate filings. An expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy organization, said these averages paint a "broad picture" of what consumers would pay for insurance purchased through the exchange. (Bice, 11/27)
Members of so-called health care sharing ministries write checks every month to cover the health care bills of other members, without the guarantees and oversight of traditional insurance. Even more Iowans are expected to enroll now that some premiums under the Affordable Care Act have skyrocketed. (Russell, 11/27)
Being eligible for the federal subsidy — whether you’re $10 or $10,000 over the cutoff — can translate into thousands of dollars in savings when buying health insurance. And for some people, talking to a tax accountant could be as important as talking to an insurance agent or broker this year. (Boulton, 11/24)
The marketing blitz is on. Californians are getting barraged with online pop-up ads, radio spots and television commercials, all aimed at persuading them to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during this year’s open-enrollment season. (Ibarra and Heredia Rodriguez, 11/27)
Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative and Children’s Community Health Plan are on their way to becoming much bigger players in the health insurance marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act. Children’s Community Health Plan, which covered 2,900 people in November, projects that 20,000 to 30,000 people in the six southeast Wisconsin counties where it operates will sign up for its plans in the current open-enrollment period for coverage that starts Jan. 1. (Boulton, 11/27)
