As The Policy Cancellation and Extension Saga Turns
At the conclusion of last week’s episode in the drama of individual and small-group health insurance policy cancellations, President Obama had gone on television and announced that if insurance commissioners and individual carriers wanted to, it was fine by him if they simply extended non-PPACA compliant plan coverage in effect as of October 1, 2013, for another 12 months.
This decision will be on a state by state basis. Ohio and Michigan have announced they will allow health insurers to extend their 2013 plans through 2014 under the policy change announced by the President. Michigan officials further stated that now that they will allow the extension, it’s now up to the insurance companies to decide whether they want to reinstate plans that they originally planned on discontinuing next year. In Ohio, the state’s top regulator expressed concerns about “uncertainty and complexity” being created by the new policy, Ohio Lt. Governor Mary Taylor said in a statement, “We support allowing Ohioans to keep the heathcare plans they want, as they were promised when Obamacare was being explained to them, and we will work with companies to reissue those plans if they choose.”
Other states that will also allow the late renewals are Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. South Dakota and Illinois have not reached decisions. Indiana, West Virginia, and Minnesota will not allow the late renewals.
Medical Mutual was the first carrier to make an announcement on how they will handle the renewals. Because Medical Mutual has rates already approved by the Ohio Department of Insurance, they are able to allow small groups (1-50) to keep non-grandfathered plans that do not comply with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for another year. This action follows the announcement by President Obama on November 14, 2013, when he said, “If you like your plan, you can keep it,” even though the ACA includes no provision to do this.
As additional information comes out, Kaminsky & Associates will keep you advised on small group options available as others affected by this change may follow suit.
If you have any questions, please contact Kaminsky & Associates.