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Enrollment in the Affordable Care Act to reopen

2021-01-28T19:58:55.721Z


It's Biden's first step in fulfilling his campaign promise to strengthen the health care reform law that he championed as vice president.


(CNN) -

President Joe Biden will reopen enrollment in the health insurance markets for the Affordable Care Act on Thursday as part of a series of health care-related executive actions, taking a step to help Americans. without health insurance that former President Donald Trump rejected.

It's Biden's first step in fulfilling his campaign promise to enforce the historic health care reform law that he championed as vice president.

And it comes when more Americans could face loss of coverage due to the economic downturn fueled by the pandemic.

Enrollments in the health insurance markets, which the Trump administration cut in half to six weeks, ended on Dec. 15.

But Biden has the power to reopen enrollments, which will allow the uninsured to select policies under a special enrollment period.

The Biden decree asks the Department of Health and Human Services to reopen registration on healthcare.gov, which serves 36 states, for those who need coverage from February 15 to May 15.

The agency is expected to do so on Thursday, according to a report by a White House official.

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"We are in the middle of a global pandemic and we want to make sure that people who want health insurance can get it," the official said, noting that millions of consumers are eligible for federal financial assistance to buy policies.

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Trump refused to take this step last year, despite strong lobbying from elected officials of both parties and the health sector.

Eleven states that run their own Obamacare marketplaces, along with the District of Columbia, allowed their uninsured residents to get coverage outside of the usual time frame.

Most, if not all, are also estimated to reopen their registrations, the White House official said.

Thursday's decrees will focus on health care.

Biden will also sign measures designed to strengthen Medicaid, as well as rescind the so-called Mexico City Policy, which prohibits the US government from funding foreign nonprofit organizations that perform or promote abortions, and will review referral restrictions. of Title X abortions.

Biden has resorted to executive action in his early days in office to quickly start putting his agenda in motion and ending his predecessor's.

His early decrees include mandating federally owned masks, reversing Trump's ban on transgender Americans from joining the military, providing additional nutritional assistance, and speeding up the manufacturing and delivery of supplies for vaccines and testing.

Reverse Trump Administration Directives

As part of Thursday's executive measures, Biden will lead federal agencies to reexamine a multitude of actions taken by his predecessor.

They include policies that weaken protections for people with pre-existing conditions and that undermine the Obamacare health markets or other health insurance markets.

He also wants agencies to review measures that make it difficult to enroll in Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and that reduce access or financial assistance, even for dependents.

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And the president will ask agencies to examine Medicaid and Affordable Care Act exemptions and demonstration projects that the Trump administration approved or implemented that may reduce coverage or undermine programs, including work requirements.

Agencies will also consider whether additional actions are needed to strengthen and protect access to health care.

Increase in the Affordable Care Act

Increasing the number of Americans insured by strengthening the Affordable Care Act was at the core of the promises of Biden's health care campaign.

However, his two main measures - creating a government-run public option and increasing federal premium subsidies for Obamacare - will require Congress and face much opposition.

The president included a proposal to boost Affordable Care Act subsidies so consumers don't pay more than 8.5% of their income for coverage in his $ 1.9 trillion aid package, which already faces hurdles in Capitol Hill.

Reopening enrollment is a much easier push, although it's unclear how much of an impact it will have.

Anyone who loses work-based health insurance coverage is already eligible to enroll in the exchanges within 60 days of the loss of insurance.

Enrollment in the first five months of 2020 increased 46% compared to the same period last year, the Trump administration indicated in June.

Additionally, it appears that more people are clinging to work-based coverage than expected, while those who have lost their jobs and most of their income have turned to Medicaid.

Between February and August, Medicaid enrollment increased by more than 5.8 million people, or 9.1%, according to federal data released in late December.

During the most recent open enrollment period, overall Obamacare underwriting for 2021 coverage increased when comparing the 36 states participating in the health insurance market both this year and last year, the only time it happened under Trump.

But the number of new customers for 2021 dropped a bit.

Nearly 9 million people could get free or subsidized bronze plans on Affordable Care Act exchanges during a special enrollment period, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation released Wednesday.

Bronze plans typically have lower premiums, but higher deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.

A total of about 15 million uninsured people could buy coverage in the markets, Kaiser said.

Make changes work

The key to reopening enrollment will be publicizing it and helping people sign up, according to a recent Kaiser discussion with boaters helping those seeking coverage on exchanges.

They also say that the period should last more than six weeks.

The Trump administration cut advertising by 90% and substantially slashed funding for enrollment assistance, two measures that Biden is expected to reverse.

Unspent revenue from the exchange's user fees appears to have accumulated to more than $ 1 billion during fiscal years 2018 through 2020, according to Kaiser.

Just over half of clients who sought coverage during the 2020 open enrollment period encountered difficulties, and nearly 5 million people sought help in person but were unable to obtain it, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation published on Monday. Monday.

The White House official indicated that the special enrollment period would be accompanied by a "robust scope," but declined to say how much money would be spent or to provide an enrollment screening.

Efforts are expected to include paid advertising, direct outreach to clients, and partnerships with community organizations.

"The extension budget for healthcare.gov was drastically reduced during the previous administration," the official said.

“So people who were uninsured didn't really get a chance to learn about being covered.

That is what we intend to rectify during this special registration period.

Many moves are expected in healthcare

Thursday's measures will likely be the first of many efforts to strengthen the Affordable Care Act and reverse the Trump administration's health care actions.

One of Biden's top priorities will likely be to prevent the law itself from being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The judges are currently considering a case brought by a coalition of Republican state attorneys general, and backed by the Trump administration.

It revolves around Congress reducing the penalty for not having health insurance several years ago to zero, which, according to the states, made the individual mandate unconstitutional and the entire law invalid.

The case will continue even if Biden's Justice Department withdraws, because it originated in Texas and other Republican-led states.

But the president could work with the new Democratic majority in Congress to counter the legal argument of the Republican states, setting the fine at one dollar, for example.

Biden's executive measures will likely also lead to the repeal of several measures that the Trump administration implemented to undermine the Affordable Care Act.

These include extending the duration of short-term health plans to one year and, more recently, allowing Georgia to stop using the health insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov, and switch to a private sector model.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took a further step in recent weeks, setting a path for all states to do this by 2023.

Biden's health care officials are also expected to focus on Medicaid.

The Trump administration made many historic changes to the health insurance program for low-income Americans, in line with the long-standing Republican wish list.

Officials allowed states to introduce work requirements and simply approved Tennessee's request to change its federal funding from Medicaid to a type of block grant.

The Supreme Court recently agreed to consider approval of work requirements in Arkansas and New Hampshire, which were overruled by lower courts.

These measures go against Biden's promise to expand access to Medicaid, so his administration will likely seek to limit or undo these waivers during his tenure, as well as possibly restore criteria on the impact of waivers on increasing health care. coverage.

The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to watch "very closely" approvals involving work requirements, based on Thursday's decree, the White House official said.

Additionally, Congress has limited ability for states to cut their Medicaid rolls during public health emergencies.

The Biden administration may want to continue with some of those provisions after it ends.

Affordable Care Act

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-01-28

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