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Tuesday, Sep 5 2017

Full Issue

Regulators Still Grappling With Uncertainty As Deadline To File Rate Proposals For 2018 Arrives

Some states are preparing to file alternative premiums for different scenarios while others are holding off on a final decision. In other marketplace news, Anthem plans to scale back coverage in Missouri, consumers brace for double-digit increases and Utah is stuck paying $10 million to cover debts from an insurance company created under the health law.

A deadline for insurers to file 2018 prices for health insurance sold through Affordable Care Act exchanges arrives Tuesday, but state regulators are still struggling to make decisions about pricing and coverage amid uncertainty in federal health policy. The upshot is confusion in what is typically an orderly, regimented regulatory process for reviewing insurance offerings that will go on sale to consumers on Nov. 1. (Wilde Mathews, 9/4)

U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc said on Friday that it will no longer offer Obamacare plans in 17 counties in Missouri but will remain in the bulk of the state, covering 68 counties that would not otherwise have Obamacare coverage for their residents. (Erman, 9/1)

Millions of people who buy individual health insurance policies and get no financial help from the Affordable Care Act are bracing for another year of double-digit premium increases, and their frustration is boiling over. Some are expecting premiums for 2018 to rival a mortgage payment. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/3)

The Affordable Care Act marketplace will be a mixed bag for Kansas consumers seeking health insurance for 2018. Some will pay more for coverage, some less. And some will purchase new plans for which there is no price-point comparison. In Missouri, insurers are proposing some hefty rate hikes.聽The聽Kansas Insurance Department said聽the 鈥渞ange of average rate revisions鈥 for individual and small-group plans on and off the ACA marketplace will be from 8.8 percent lower to 29 percent higher. That means that some consumers could see premium increases of more than 29 percent, but it鈥檚 impossible to say how many, said Julie Holmes, the department鈥檚 director of health and life insurance. (Mclean and Smith, 9/1)

Utah鈥檚 state government will pay $10 million to health providers to cover debts left behind by an insurance company that was created to offer plans under President Obama鈥檚 Affordable Care Act but closed its doors in 2015. The Utah Insurance Department will pay the amount over the next six months to help diminish the debt of unpaid claims from Arches Health Plan. (9/3)

Meanwhile, the decision to gut the advertising budget for health law enrollment faces blow back 鈥

ObamaCare advocates said聽there is no way to fill the void left by the Trump administration鈥檚 decision to slash 90 percent of funding for enrollment outreach for the health law, potentially creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no way outside nonprofit organizations like ours can make up for the significant resource loss that will occur by virtue of this decision,鈥 Craig Obey, deputy executive director of Families USA, said in an email to The Hill. (Weixel, 9/4)

The decision from federal officials to slash funding to state organizations that help people enroll in health insurance took Tennessee's largest grant recipient by surprise, and left it with little information about what to expect.聽The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Thursday it would reduce national grant funding from 2017's $62.5 million to $36.8 million for the 2018 grant year. (Fletcher, 9/1)

Former President Obama鈥檚 former head of Medicare and Medicaid took to Twitter Friday to spread the word about the Affordable Care Act after it was announced President Trump was cutting outreach funding for the program. 鈥淭rump decided not to inform people of ACA open enrollment in order to sink it,鈥 Andy Slavitt tweeted Friday. 鈥淭hat's not the only option. RT here if you will help spread.鈥 (Carter, 9/2)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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