Academy Activities
On Feb. 27, the Academy announced its new research partnership with the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), an independent, nonpartisan nonprofit research organization dedicated to creating the most comprehensive source of information on health care activity and to promoting research on the drivers of health care costs. The partnership and the data that the HCCI has collected can help the Academy enhance its public policy work on health care costs.
At the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ Spring Meeting on March 8, Joyce Bohl, a member of the Academy’s Federal Health Committee made a presentation on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) effect on rating.
The Health Solvency Work Group sent a letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Health Risk-Based Capital Working Group on March 10 with ideas for alternatives to increasing risk-based capital factors that cover the 3Rs (risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors).
On March 13 and 14, members of the Health Practice Council and Federal Health Committee will make their annual trek to Capitol Hill to talk with congressional and government agency staff about health-related issues from ACA implementation to sustainability of public programs to addressing health care costs. |
Legislative and Regulatory Updates
 On March 5, the Department of Health and Human Services released its final rule on the 2015 benefit and payment parameters. Provisions related to the ACA include risk-sharing mechanisms, cost-sharing reductions, federally facilitated exchanges, composite rating, the annual open enrollment period for 2015, the actuarial value calculator, the Small Business Health Options Program, and annual limits on cost-sharing for stand-alone dental plans. The rules will be effective on May 10.
The Department of the Treasury released two final rules on March 5 addressing information reporting under the ACA. The first rule requires providers of minimum essential coverage to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) information about the type and period of coverage they are providing and to furnish related statements to covered individuals. The other final rule provides guidance to large employers on information that must be shared with employees and the IRS to comply with the employer shared-responsibility requirement and eligibility for premium tax subsidies. The two final rules became effective March 10.
President Obama announced on March 5 that individuals who wanted to continue their non-ACA compliant health plans would be allowed to do so for an additional two years. That same day, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a letter indicating that people with non-ACA compliant policies in the small group or individual markets would have until Oct. 1, 2016, to transition to new coverage.
The Obama administration on March 4 released its budget, which includes several aspects aimed at improving the sustainability of the Medicare program. These include provisions to:
- Adjust payment rates with costs for certain post-acute care providers;
- Increase income-related Part B and Part D premiums;
- Modify the Part B deductible for new beneficiaries;
- Introduce a Part B premium surcharge for new beneficiaries who have Medigap insurance coverage with low cost-sharing requirements;
- Strengthen the Independent Payment Advisory Board by lowering the target Medicare per capita cost growth rate.
The White House projects that these and other Medicare-related provisions would result in Medicare savings of $407.2 billion over 10 years.
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In the News
 The Academy’s new public policy research partnership with the Health Care Cost Institute was highlighted by iStockAnalyst, The Street, and the University of Pennsylvania Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics blog.
The announcement of the Academy’s “Essential Elements” series was covered by Life & Health Advisor and reprinted by BenefitsLink and InsuranceNewsNet.
Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello’s written testimony for a U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) risk corridor program was covered by Insurance & Financial Advisor and Pharmacy Choice. Additionally, Uccello’s participation in a discussion of the enrollment rate of young adults in health insurance marketplace plans was reported in a law firm’s news item about the meeting.
The Health Practice Council’s fact sheet on the ACA’s risk-sharing mechanisms was cited in a blog posting published by the National Center for Policy Analysis.
The Health Practice Council’s Nov. 5 letter to Congress warning about the consequences of eliminating the ACA’s individual mandate or extending the open enrollment period was cited in the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ “Off the Charts” blog and a law firm’s “2013 Insurance Industry Year End Review and Forecast for 2014.”
Uccello was cited in a Bloomberg BNA (subscriber-only) story, “MedPAC Leaning Toward Monthly Bonus For Primary Care Based on Beneficiaries.”
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Upcoming Events
Health Insurance Exchanges Forum
Conference: June 11, Seattle
Sponsor: America's Health Insurance Plans (fee charged)
For a complete listing of upcoming and recent health care reform events click here.
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