Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Their Budget Slashed, These ACA Navigators Are Starting To Think Outside The Box
The people who put together Tennessee's open enrollment events and power the state's hotline are devising a last minute, grassroots strategy to let people know when and how they can buy individual health insurance. The final six weeks before enrollment kicks off on Nov. 1 will be frantic for navigators, the people certified to help. The Affordable Care Act didn't get repealed but a last minute funding decision by the Trump administration is altering plans that were nearly cemented. (Fletcher, 9/12)
A group of聽Democratic lawmakers are calling on the Trump administration to pay millions of dollars to outside groups that help people sign up for ObamaCare. The letter from 31 House Democrats, led by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.), pressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to release funding for navigator groups, which also help with ObamaCare education and outreach. (Weixel, 9/12)
In other marketplace news聽鈥
Anthem Inc, which has trimmed the number of states and counties in which it will sell individual Obamacare plans in 2018, said on Tuesday it is still working with some state regulators on its market participation for next year. Anthem and other insurers have a deadline of Sept. 27 to finalize their 2018 role in the individual insurance program created as part of former President Barack Obama's national healthcare law, often called Obamacare. Anthem is the No. 2 U.S. health insurer. (Humer, 9/12)
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will no longer offer group plans for small businesses through the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange, the company announced this week. ...When Obamacare went into effect, the federal government predicted that 4 million people would be covered through its Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP. It hit less than 6 percent of that goal.聽As of January 2017, just 27,000 employers nationwide had SHOP plans covering about 230,000 people, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. (Armentrout, 9/12)
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cut funding by more than 40 percent this fiscal year for counselors, or "navigators," who provide in-person enrollment help to those signing up for the Affordable Care Act 鈥 or "Obamacare" 鈥 insurance and Medicaid for low-income and disabled residents. The funding cuts mean two Arizona entities that received navigator grants 鈥 the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers (AACHC) and the University of Arizona 鈥 don't knowif, or how much, they'll receive to pay for these positions during the coming enrollment period. (Alltucker, 9/12)
Iowa鈥檚 insurance commissioner told legislators Tuesday he鈥檚 become 鈥渁 lot less optimistic鈥 about the prospects of his plan to shore up the state鈥檚 individual health-insurance market, because he still hasn鈥檛 received approval from federal officials. Commissioner Doug Ommen said he had聽hoped to hear by now whether federal administrators would go along with his "stopgap" proposal. As things stand, the only carrier planning to offer individual health insurance in Iowa for 2018 plans to raise premiums by nearly 58 percent. Some consumers could see their premiums more than double. (Leys, 9/12)
