…hours or those that need to meet job-related conditions like professional certifications, and for companies that use trial periods to evaluate an individual’s performance before a final job offer. The regulations are clear, however, that employers cannot try to use these allowances to avoid complying with the 90-day rule. Prior to the ACA, no federal law existed that limited the…
…about fixed indemnity policies As previously noted in this blog, state and federal regulators have had longstanding concerns that insurance companies would market fixed indemnity policies, which are not subject to the ACA’s consumer protections, as alternatives to health insurance. Not only are these policies often very skimpy, leaving consumers on the hook for unexpected and sometimes exorbitant medical bills,…
…required. 2) Compensation Assisters cannot charge any applicant or enrollee, or receive remuneration in any form from or on behalf of an applicant or enrollee, for application or other assistance. In federal marketplace states, no type of individual assister can be compensated on a per-application, per-individual-assisted, or per-enrollment basis effective November 15, 2014. To align requirements across assister types, CACs…
By Sonya Schwartz, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families The National Immigration Law Center has said that the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act of 2014 (H. R. 4414 as amended or “EHCCA”), which passed the House last week, is “like using a bat to swat a fly.” I agree that this analogy fits. The EHCCA professes to fix a…
Early this week Washington and Virginia made health insurers’ proposed premium rates for 2015 available to the public. With another big filing deadline May 15, other states will soon follow. For many commentators, these rates will serve as a referendum on the success or failure of the Affordable Care Act. While no one expects rates to go down except in…
As part of our Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Navigator Technical Assistance project, we’ve worked with navigators and assisters to answer the more complex questions they get from consumers trying to understand their coverage options. Now that open enrollment is over, Navigators are starting to hear from consumers they helped enroll and who are returning with questions about their coverage. One…
…caused the upward spiral of premiums to accelerate. Now, let’s fast forward to December of 2013. You’re still stuck in the same policy, but you’re about to be unstuck. What’s the difference? You now have alternatives. The 2014 ACA-compliant policies are available and insurers can neither reject you nor base your premium rate on your health status. You can enroll…
On Friday, May 2, 2014 the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) released new guidance for the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) regarding new special enrollment periods (SEPs) for certain individuals. It also allows people who were enrolled in a health plan outside the marketplace by May 1, 2014 to obtain an exemption from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA)…
…to relinquish marketplace operation to the federal government must notify HHS at least 12 months in advance. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, Sarah Dash and Amy Thomas dig into which states are transitioning to state-based marketplaces – and which states are looking at alternative models, from SHOP-only to potential regional marketplaces. Read about their findings here….
…have had to “loop” between the Marketplace to the state Medicaid agency and back again. We at CHIR – and at our sister center, the Georgetown Center for Children and Families – have been attempting to keep tabs on these folks. Are they getting the coverage they need, when they need it? Unfortunately, the bureaucratic hurdles don’t always end when…
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the individual blog post authors and do not represent the views of Georgetown University, the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, any organization that the author is affiliated with, or the opinions of any other author who publishes on this blog.
