HHS Unveils Rules To Limit Short-Term Health Policies, Strengthen Marketplaces
These plans are often cheaper but less comprehensive than those sold on the health law marketplaces. The proposed rules would limit their use to three months.
The Wall Street Journal:
Government Seeks Limits On Short-Term Health Policies
The Obama administration is seeking to limit short-term health policies that include features largely banned under the Affordable Care Act, a proposal that could crimp a profitable and growing business for some insurers. Under a proposed rule released Wednesday, insurers would only be able to offer short-term health policies that last less than three months, and the coverage couldn’t be renewed at the end of that period. The proposal seeks to close a gap that has let healthier consumers purchase short-term plans that could last for nearly a year, sometimes using them as a cheaper substitute for ACA plans. (Wilde Mathews, Radnofsky and Armour, 6/8)
The Hill:
Administration Moves To Strengthen ObamaCare Marketplaces
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday announced a range of steps aimed at improving the health of the ObamaCare marketplaces. The moves are aimed at improving the mix of healthy and sick enrollees, known as the “risk pool.” (Sullivan, 6/8)
Morning Consult:
Hoping To Improve ACA Risk Pools, HHS Proposes Way To Curb Use Of Short-Term Plans
The department also announced it will propose a separate rule later this year that would include an adjustment factor for partial-year enrollees as part of the risk adjustment model beginning next January. A third proposed rule the department says is coming this year would include prescription drug utilization data into the risk adjustment model starting during the 2018 benefit year. Such proposed rules would ensure consumers are using temporary insurance plans for when they are intended, typically when someone is in the middle of a transition in their life that would affect their existing coverage, HHS said in a release explaining the rules. (McIntire, 6/8)