New York health insurance exchange begins acquiring policies

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health insurance policiesNew York health insurance companies being tapped by exchange program

The New York Health Benefit Exchange has begun reaching out to private insurance companies throughout the state in order to populate itself with health insurance policies. The health insurance exchange was established as part of the Affordable Care Act and New York legislators decided that the state will run this insurance program rather than the federal government. Per the federal health care law, the exchange is meant to be a marketplace where consumers can find affordable coverage.

Lawmakers aim to make exchange as consumer-friendly as possible

New York lawmakers decided to support the health insurance exchange in order to meet the particular needs of New York residents. In order to meet their goals, lawmakers have taken steps to ensure that the policies that will be sold through the exchange will offer comprehensive health insurance coverage that will be appropriate for different tiers of plans. Policies will be categorized based on their cost and the coverage they provide, but every policy will need to provide a certain level of coverage no matter what tier they are in.

Policies must comply with state, federal, and exchange standards

The New York Health Benefit Exchange has begun recruiting the state’s private health insurance companies in order to establish a wide variety of policies that can be sold to consumers in the coming year. These policies must comply with the state’s insurance regulations, as well as the standards of the health insurance exchange itself. Policies that do not comply with state, federal, and exchange standards will not be included in the marketplace.

Health insurance companies have until February 15 to apply to the exchange

State officials expect that some 615,000 individuals and 450,000 small business employees will seek coverage through the health insurance exchange program. New York health insurance companies have until February 15 to begin application process for participation in the exchange program. Enrollment into the program for consumers is scheduled to begin October 1 of this year, with the policies sold through the exchange to go into effect on January 1, 2014.

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