As we all know, the roll out of the Affordable Care Act has been, shall we say, off to a bumpy start. Millions of people having their policies canceled, when they thought they were going to be able to keep them, has been dominating the news for a week. That even bumped all of the federal website issues out of the news for awhile. In fact, the glitch was creating so many problems, politically and otherwise, that the President and lawmakers are trying to figure out "tweaks" to resolve the distress.
So, as probably everyone knows, the President today said that he was instructing insurance commissioners and companies to extend the coverage on the canceled policies for another year. That seemed like a stop-gap to ease some of the pain.
BUT NOT SO FAST! I just now received this announcement. It ends up that, despite what the President said, the state insurance commissioners are able to make the final decision. And, per a press release from the office of democrat Mike Kreidler, Washington State Insurance Commissioner, he feels that today's actions by the President are unwise, and Kreidler says that Washington State will not endorse or comply with Obama's request. Bottom line: If you had your policy canceled in Washington State, don't assume that today's Presidential announcement altered your predicament. Below is the text of Kreidler's message.
Kreidler's statement on President Obama's announcement today...
President Obama announced this morning that insurance carriers will have the ability to maintain existing plans for insured individuals, with the caveat that final approval will be up to the state insurance commissioner. Mike Kriedler, Washington State's Insurance Commissioner, immediately issued a public response that he will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their non-ACA-compliant plans into 2014.
OLYMPIA, Wash. - "Our state-based Exchange - Wahealthplanfinder.org - is up and running and successfully enrolling thousands of consumers.
I understand that many people are upset by the notices they have recently received from their health plans and they may not need the new benefits today. But I have serious concerns about how President Obama's proposal would be implemented and more significantly, its potential impact on the overall stability of our health insurance market.
I do not believe his proposal is a good deal for the state of Washington. In the interest of keeping the consumer protections we have enacted and ensuring that we keep health insurance costs down for all consumers, we are staying the course. We will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their policies. I believe this is in the best interest of the health insurance market in Washington."
Kreidler estimates that 290,000 people will need to buy new coverage and that at least half of them will qualify for a premium subsidy. He encourages anyone who is shopping for new health plans - whether you've been uninsured or have received a cancellation notice from your insurer - to look at all of your options. There are 46 individual health plans for sale in the Exchange and 51 plans available outside the Exchange. You may find better, more affordable coverage with a different insurer.
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