A group of state insurance commissioners is developing a proposal to limit the amount that health insurers might have to pay out under the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment program, New Mexico Insurance Superintendent John Franchini told SNL.
The plan would install a so-called circuit breaker to prevent companies from paying more than 2% of their premium revenue into the program each year. That boundary would make insurers’ financial obligations more predictable and avoid the kinds of surprise payouts that contributed to the destabilization of several health plans in 2015.
HealthSpan, the insurance arm of Catholic health system Mercy Health, is getting rid of its medical group and halting sales of ObamaCare policies just two years after acquiring Kaiser Permanente’s Ohio subsidiary. Spokesman Chuck Heald said HealthSpan will stop selling individual and small-group health plans on the ObamaCare exchanges to focus more on Medicare and employer plans. HealthSpan jacked up premium rates for 2016 individual and small-group plans anywhere from 9% to 32% to account for the sicker-than-expected exchange population.
With the Affordable Care Act crumbling, progressive activists are all but guaranteed to grab the opportunity that this single-payer ballot measure represents. But if Coloradans truly want better health care at a lower cost for more people, they shouldn’t vote for another one-size-fits-all government program. They should vote for proposals—and politicians—that will give patients more choices.
A Plain Dealer analysis of plans offered through healthcare.gov, the exchange website, shows that deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance expenses are putting up significant barriers to accessing medical care, particularly for middle-income earners. The average deductible for a silver-level plan – among the most affordable options for someone with medical needs – is $3,561 in Cuyahoga County for a 40-year-old male earning $30,000, according to the analysis. The maximum annual out-of-pocket expense for that individual averages $6,277.
About 4,500 Medical University of South Carolina patients currently covered by Consumers’ Choice Health Plan need to pick a new policy by Tuesday to remain insured on Jan. 1. Medical University Hospital CEO Pat Cawley told the MUSC Board of Trustees on Thursday that the announcement created “an administrative nightmare.”
Only 35% of 67,000 Consumers’ Choice customers across the state have selected a new plan so far.
The lone health insurance cooperative to make money last year on the ObamaCare insurance exchanges is now losing millions and suspending individual enrollment for 2016. Maine’s Community Health Options lost more than $17 million in the first nine months of this year, after making $10.9 million in the same period last year. A spokesman said higher-than-expected medical costs have hurt the co-op. An Associated Press review of financial statements from 10 of the 11 surviving co-ops shows that they lost, on average, more than $21 million in the first nine months of this year.
Instead of more federal regulation and subsidies, what U.S. health care needs is adoption of market principles, starting with broad empowerment of the patient-consumer. The proposals advanced in this volume would replace many counterproductive and outdated federal policies with practical, market-based reforms that aim to provide all Americans with access to high-quality health care at affordable prices.
“Woefully sloppy and willfully ignorant” is how Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) described the oversight of the state-run health insurance exchanges at an Energy & Commerce oversight hearing Tuesday.
Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), testified before the subcommittee on the use of federal funds provided to establish state-based marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act.
CMS doled out more than $5.5 billion in grant money to construct exchanges in 17 states, but lawmakers now question whether this money has been used properly. Chairman Murphy noted that every single state exchange faces significant budget shortfalls. For example, $733 million was given to establish state exchanges in Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oregon. All four exchanges failed to become self-sustaining and were forced to transition consumers to the federal marketplace. It is increasingly unclear whether or not the money will be recouped.
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questioned Slavitt about a recent report from the Government Accountability Office which revealed that some state exchanges’ information technology systems were still functioning improperly. The report found that CMS “did not always clearly document, define, or communicate its oversight roles and responsibilities to states as called for by best practices for project management.” State administrators say communication with CMS has been poor, which “adversely affected states’ deadlines, increased uncertainty, and required additional work.”
CMS is charged with reviewing states’ funding requests and conducting audits to ensure all money is being spent legally. After January 1, 2015, states were not allowed to spend grant money on operation expenses such as rent, utilities, telecommunications, or software maintenance. Chairman Murphy cited a report from the Office of Inspector General revealing that Washington state may have used its grant money for operational costs, contrary to law.
Slavitt contended all current state marketplaces are sustainable despite these compelling challenges. When asked by Congressman David McKinley (R-WV) whether anyone has lost their job for giving erroneous advice to the state exchanges, Slavitt was unable to provide a single name.
Tuesday’s hearing was the second Energy & Commerce oversight hearing to address the tumultuous problems within the state marketplaces in an effort to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely and in accordance with the law.
The ObamaCare program for small business in Illinois—known as SHOP—has been troubled from the start. Only two insurers sold health plans on the online marketplace to Chicago small businesses: startup Land of Lincoln Health and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois. Now there’s just one. Facing massive financial losses, Chicago-based Land of Lincoln has stopped signing up new small-business customers.
ObamaCare is performing worse than expected when it became law: plans are less attractive, enrollment is lower, premium increases are higher, and risk pools are sicker. Medicaid expansion is a key problem with the law. The main problem with Medicaid, which existed before the ACA took effect, is that enrollees receive little value from the program. The joint federal-state health care program needs large scale reform so that it provides better value for both enrollees and taxpayers.