What did Obama's One-Year Fix actually Accomplish?

Many people whose existing health-insurance policies were canceled due to the new federal health law won't be able to extend them, despite President Barack Obama's request that insurers allow them to do so. 

Some carriers say they may not or won't reinstate canceled policies because of a lack of time to make changes and other obstacles. Others say the one-year extensions would come with higher rates. At least five states—New York, Washington, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Rhode Island—have rebuffed Mr. Obama, meaning insurers can't reinstate policies there even if they do so elsewhere.

And even in states that have given the green-light, insurers face logistical challenges. Insurers say problems range from identifying and contacting canceled enrollees to working out what to charge, since rules vary from state to state.

In some cases, insurers already had begun the process of reassigning or laying off underwriters because the health law bars insurers from taking medical history into account when setting prices. Now carriers are bringing underwriters back and are trying to work out how much reinstated policies would cost under the new rules. 

"It's a major challenge," said Howard Mills, chief adviser for the insurance-industry group at Deloitte and a former superintendent of insurance for New York. "The fix is very much an open question at this point." 

"Time is running out, if there was even time to begin with," said Hans K. Leida, an actuary at Milliman Inc., a consulting firm.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Alabama said Wednesday it wouldn't reinstate policies to 87,000 customers with canceled policies. A one-year continuation of those plans "would create dual classes of policyholders and destabilize the state's insurance market," the company said. It also would result in higher health-care costs and create "significant legal and financial risks to our policyholders, the state and our company," the company said.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here.
Please follow us on Twitter here.