Idaho officials say they may add more requirements from former President Barack Obama’s health care law to their proposal to let health insurance companies sell so-called state-based policies that skirt some rules of the Affordable Care Act.
Idaho Department of Insurance Director Dean Cameron says he and other officials have been negotiating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in an effort to come up with a modified approach to the state-based plans that will pass federal muster while still ditching some ACA provisions. Cameron says the state’s plan will likely see compromises on annual limits and essential health benefits, while potential changes to the state’s proposal include requiring maternity coverage.
Meanwhile, Idaho officials are proposing a slightly different approach to determining premium costs and some other regulations, though the details are still under discussion.
Cameron says the state-based plans are needed to save Idaho’s insurance exchange as premiums continue to rise and some healthy residents opt to go uninsured.
Idaho Governor Butch Otter announced in January that he would allow insurance companies to sell cheaper policies that don’t fully comply with the ACA, despite not yet having any federal approval for what critics called a legally dubious plan. Several weeks later, however, Seema Verma with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent the state a letter warning that the proposal was illegal under the ACA, and reminding Idaho that officials that her agency had a duty to uphold the health care law. Still, Verma indicated her agency was sympathetic to Idaho officials’ concerns, and the state has been deep in negotiations over the past few weeks.
The agency also extended the 30-day deadline that Idaho had to respond, with a new deadline set for May 5th. It wasn’t immediately clear if that deadline would be extended again. (AP)
