Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Appeals Court Strikes Administration's Rule Barring Alternative Type Of Health Insurance
A federal appeals court has ruled that consumers must be allowed to buy certain types of health insurance that do not meet the stringent standards of the Affordable Care Act, deciding that the administration had gone beyond the terms of federal law. The court struck down a rule issued by the Obama administration that barred the sale of such insurance as a separate stand-alone product. ... At issue is a type of insurance that pays consumers a fixed dollar amount, such as $500 a day for hospital care or $50 for a doctor’s visit, regardless of how much is actually owed to the provider. (Pear, 7/5)
The state of Connecticut is placing its nonprofit ObamaCare health insurer, called HealthyCT, under supervision and beginning a wind-down process due to financial struggles. The announcement is only the latest in a string of problems facing the nonprofit insurers set up under ObamaCare, known as co-ops. Republicans have seized on the troubles as evidence of problems in the health law as a whole. (Sullivan, 7/5)
About 40,000 people will lose their health insurance in the coming months as a result of a state evaluation that has deemed the financial health of Connecticut’s nonprofit health care co-op unstable. The co-op, HealthyCT, was issued an order of supervision from the state's insurance department Tuesday after it became clear a new federal requirement for the provider to pay $13.4 million would leave its finances in disarray. The order prevents the co-op from issuing any new insurance policies – a measure designed to protect consumers. (Constable, 7/5)
HealthyCT, whose motto is"Plans for People. Not for Profit," learned Thursday that it had to pay $13.4 million to the federal government because of the risk adjustment rules that are part of the complex Obamacare system. Under risk adjustment, plans that cover more healthy people have to send money back to the government, which is then redistributed to other plans that have a sicker population. ... The company will wind down through the middle of next year. Once all the customers are gone, 72 Wallingford-based employees will be out of work, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit said. (Lee, 7/5)
