Federal health insurance policy shifts
Many health insurance plans in the U.S. are set to be canceled by January of 2014. These policies do not comply with the standards established by the Affordable Care Act and, as such, cannot remain active. Unfortunately, this means that those who have had their policies cancelled must purchase new policies in order to comply with federally mandated insurance coverage. This has caused significant controversy and has placed a great deal of pressure on President Barack Obama, who may have a plan to resolve the issue.
Policy rollback could give consumers some reprieve
Late last week, President Obama announced that substandard health insurance policies may be renewed for at least one year. While this may be good news for the people that could have their policies cancelled, it has also sparked some confusion among health insurance providers and advocates of state-based insurance exchanges. Many insurers had been pushing consumers to seek out coverage through state-based exchanges in an effort to depopulate the individual market, but the policy rollback from the Obama administration may serve as a serious barrier to such initiatives.
Insurers see problems associated with shift from federal government
Insurance executives have been meeting with the President over the weekend in order to examine the possible implications of the policy rollback. One of the significant problems that could lead to more confusion among consumers is the fact that many health insurance providers have already issued cancellation notices to thousands of policyholders throughout the country. Informing these people that they policies may be renewed for another year is expected to be a time consuming and costly process.
Health insurance policies are still susceptible to cancellation
It should be noted that Obama’s announcement is not a mandate. Health insurance companies can still opt to cancel substandard policies in order to comply with the Affordable Care Act, but they will not be required to do so by federal law for at least one year. That means that many policyholders may still need to find new coverage beginning on January 1, 2014.
