Biden Administration Ups Funding For ACA Navigators

Axios: CMS Will Give Community Groups $2.3 Million To Bolster ACA Sign-Ups 
The Biden administration will provide about $2.3 million to help bolster Affordable Care Act sign-ups in underserved communities, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Monday. Why it matters: This funding for ACA "navigators" who provide in-person enrollment assistance will help uninsured Americans take advantage of the special enrollment window that opens later this month. (Fernandez, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Provides Slim Increase In Help For ACA Insurance Coaches
The Biden administration is providing a modest amount of additional help to community groups coaching consumers to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during the 2 1/2 months remaining in an extended shopping period for such insurance. The $2.3 million, announced Monday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), is being delivered after some of the groups, known as navigators, complained they had little money left after a regular enrollment season ended late last year. They had no way to anticipate that President Biden would order HealthCare.gov, the federal online ACA insurance marketplace, to reopen for an unprecedented extra shopping time — a decision prompted by the economic dislocation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. (Goldstein, 3/1)

Axios: Study: Only The Biggest ACA Subsidies Improved Financial Health 
Low-income families eligible for both premium subsidies and cost-sharing subsidies spent 17% less on out-of-pocket health care costs than unsubsidized enrollees. But the financial burden of health care costs didn't alleviate at all for middle-income families eligible only for premium subsidies. (Fernandez, 3/2)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Tax Surprise Due To COVID-19: Part Of ACA Insurance Subsidy May Have To Be Paid Back
The vast majority of people who sign up for a marketplace plan are eligible for a tax credit to reduce their monthly premium. But the tax credits are based on estimated annual income — which may be especially hard to predict during such financially uncertain times. People whose income fluctuated significantly during the year may be in store for a tax season surprise: having to pay back part of their premium tax credit if they earned more than they expected. (Gantz, 3/1)

In Medicare and Medicaid news —

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Administration’s Plan To Rescind States’ Medicaid Work Rules Faces Temporary Hitch 
The Biden administration wants to roll back some states’ requirements that Medicaid recipients work in exchange for government relief, but its task may be complicated by moves in the final weeks of the previous administration to lock in the requirements for months. The Republican Trump administration supported work requirements, calling them a way to move people out of the program and into jobs with employer-sponsored health coverage. Typically, a beneficiary has to work 20 or more hours a week, or perform community service or participate in education or job training, in order to get or keep their health insurance. (Armour, 3/1)

Modern Healthcare: Rural Residents Twice As Likely To Leave Medicare Advantage As Urbanites, Study Says
Medicare Advantage enrollees living in rural areas are more than twice as likely to switch to traditional Medicare as urban dwellers, according to a new study. Researchers from Drexel University and Brown University analyzed nearly 17,900 member responses to the annual Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey from 2010 to 2016 to find that 10.5% of rural Medicare Advantage members switched to fee-for-service Medicare, while 5% of urbanites switched from the public-private relationship to the government program. The report analyzed 11 different measures to determine beneficiaries' care satisfaction. Coauthor Sungchul Park, an assistant professor at Drexel University, said that rural members' biggest complaints were around the narrow provider networks they were allowed under the program. (Tepper, 3/1)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Bill On Medicaid-Expansion Overhaul Unveiled
Lawmakers seeking to preserve Arkansas' "private option" Medicaid expansion program unveiled legislation Monday that would replace the controversial work requirement with a system that incentivizes work through access to government-funded private health insurance. Senate Bill 140, the proposed "Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me Act," would be the second overhaul of the state's Medicaid expansion during the administration of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who inherited the program from his Democratic predecessor, Gov. Mike Beebe. The bill also comes as the Legislature seeks to navigate the future of the state's Medicaid expansion program under the new administration of President Joe Biden, which has signaled it will not permit traditional work requirements sought by Arkansas and other states. (Moritz, 3/1)