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The fifth Open Enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) started on November 1st, and will continue for a scant 45 days ending on December 15, 2017. This year, not only has the Open Enrollment been cut in half, but obstacles abound – obstacles that were not part of the 2016 Open Enrollment Period. For example:

  • Healthcare.gov is undergoing maintenance that could interfere with access during the Open Enrollment Period;
  • Federal support for Open Enrollment outreach and advertising is substantially lower this year than it has been in prior Open Enrollment periods; and
  • The number of health insurers participating in the exchanges has dropped significantly from last year (prompted in part by well-founded concerns regarding the future of federal cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments), and in some counties, only one plan is available to individuals and families seeking coverage through the exchanges.

Continue Reading Clean Up on Aisle 12! The Obamacare Pop-Up Store is Open but Stocks are Limited

The Future of CSRs – A Tale Told in Tweets. In follow-up to our May 5, 2017 blog post, “ACA Cost-Sharing Reductions: An Uncertain Future,” on August 16, 2017, the Trump Administration made an announcement (Announcement) that it will continue to fund cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers in accordance with the CSR provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for the month of August. The Announcement did not include any commitments to fund CSR payments in September or anytime thereafter.
Continue Reading ACA Cost-Sharing Reductions– A Momentary Reprieve and Ongoing Doubts

The Department of Health and Human Services released the final Affordable Care Act marketplace stabilization rules (“Final Rule”) on April 13, 2017. The Final Rules become effective on June 19, 2017 and will, accordingly, apply to the 2018 state and federal Affordable Care Act health insurance exchanges. The Final Rule is available here.
Continue Reading Final Market Stabilization Rules – How Stable is Stable?