Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rules On Marketplace Forms May Put Immigrants At Disadvantage
The Associated Press: Healthcare.gov’s EZ Form Not For Legal Immigrants
HealthCare.gov’s new EZ application for coverage can’t be used by legal immigrants or naturalized U.S. citizens, prompting concern that many Hispanics and Asians will go right back into long enrollment queues this year. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/23)
Politico Pro: Obamacare Foot Soldiers, Armed With Experience
The second season of Obamacare enrollment begins Nov. 15. Advocates expect a way smoother start than last years’ debacle. The websites should be in better shape, the political opposition isn’t quite as intense and people working on signups had plenty of missteps from last year to learn from. (Villacorta, 10/22)
The Associated Press: Blue Cross Reveals 2015 Health Insurance Rates
North Carolina's largest health insurer said on Wednesday that 2015 rates will rise by more than 13 percent on average for people who buy their own Affordable Care Act policies. ... Blue Cross said rates would rise an average of 13.5 percent for 315,000 customers who enrolled this year in individual plans that comply with President Barack Obama's health insurance law. It cautioned that the actual increase for each policy will be affected by factors including age, location and plan level. As an example, the insurer said a 45-year-old nonsmoking man in the Raleigh area who didn't receive subsidies would see his monthly premium rise by about $57 to $421.32 per month on a typical individual ACA silver plan. The vast majority of customers, however, receive subsidies that will insulate them from rate increases. (Drew, 10/22)
And, a sampling of news from state exchanges -
The Associated Press: Maryland To Keep Testing Health Exchange Website
Maryland’s information technology secretary says the state will be testing how well its revamped health exchange website can handle thousands of users over different periods of time. Isabel FitzGerald gave an update on Tuesday about how work is going. The state has incorporated new technology from Connecticut to revamp the website, which crashed on the day it opened last year. (10/21)
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: State Sought Lower MNsure Rates From PreferredOne
Sometime after the insurer PreferredOne submitted its proposed rates for the first year of the MNsure exchange, state regulators asked the company to consider lowering the numbers. Ultimately, the insurer responded with “a total rate decrease of 37 percent,” according to a July 2013 letter from an outside actuary to the company. Those final rates were the lowest in the Twin Cities — and across the country, in many cases — and helped PreferredOne to grab nearly 60 percent of the MNsure business. Now, those subscribers face an average premium increase of 63 percent if they stay with PreferredOne — a yo-yo scenario that health policy experts say points to the challenge in setting prices under the federal health law. The big swing also suggests that the low prices were out of step with the reality of the business. (Snowbeck, 10/22)
The Associated Press: Oregon Cuts Ties With Oracle's Health Exchange
Oregon is cutting its last ties with a botched health insurance exchange portal built by Oracle Corp. as the state and the high-tech company pursue lawsuits against each other. In April, Oregon announced it was giving up on the troubled state exchange and would use the federal site HealthCare.gov for signing people up for private insurance policies. Oregon had planned to salvage some of the Oracle-built portal to enroll people in Medicaid, but officials have now decided to scrap that project as well and will use another state's Medicaid enrollment system instead. Low-income Oregonians who are eligible for Medicaid will also enroll via HealthCare.gov during the upcoming open-enrollment period, which starts Nov. 15. The new system for the state will not be ready until next year. (Wozniacka, 10/22)
On the Medicaid expansion front -
The Associated Press: Report: Planning Helped Medicaid Expansion Rollout
The initial success of Michigan's Medicaid expansion could be useful to other states considering their own plans under the Affordable Care Act, according to a report by a team of University of Michigan Medical School researchers. ... Michigan rolled out its plan as much as three months later than some states, which allowed residents to find out more about what it offered and how to sign up. Michigan also used networks of organizations to publicize the plan and hired a company to take calls from potential applicants. (10/22)
