Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
GOP Report Casts Shade On State-Run Obamacare Exchanges
The Hill: GOP Report: State-Run ObamaCare Exchanges Are Headed For Collapse
The dozen ObamaCare exchanges run by the states are struggling financially and could be headed toward collapse over the next several years, according to a new report released Tuesday by House Republicans. All of the active state-run exchanges are still relying on federal dollars, nearly two years after they were supposed to be self-sustaining under law, according to a lengthy report by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (Ferris, 9/13)
The CT Mirror: ConnectiCare Will Stay On CT Health Exchange In 2017
ConnectiCare, the single-largest insurer on the state’s health exchange, announced Tuesday it would participate in the exchange in 2017 working with the rate schedule the Insurance Department approved earlier this month. That decision means two of the four companies that have sold policies through Access Health CT will participate again next year. Anthem also will continue to sell policies through the exchange. (Phaneuf, 9/13)
Hartford Courant: In Reversal, ConnectiCare Will Remain In Obamacare Exchange
ConnectiCare changed course Tuesday and will now remain part of the state's federally subsidized health insurance exchange next year. The health insurance company said Friday that it wanted to sell Obamacare policies in Connecticut in 2017, but only if it could charge more than the 17.4 percent average increase regulators have granted for next year. (Lee, 9/13)
And NPR reports on a new kind of "gap"insurance -
NPR/KBIA: Gap Insurance Takes Sting Out Of High-Deductible Health Plans
For the first time in her life, 26-year-old freelance designer Susannah Lohr had to shop for health insurance this year. She called up a major insurer in the St. Louis area where she lives, and it offered her a plan with a hefty $6,000 deductible — that's the amount she would have to cover herself before the insurance kicks in. When she balked, the salesman on the phone suggested that she could buy a "gap plan," a separate policy for $50 a month to cover her deductible. "After I got off the phone with him, I realized: That's actually just insurance for my insurance," she said, laughing. (Sable-Smith, 9/13)
