Trump administration issues final rule on stricter Obamacare enrollment

[progree]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Thursday issued a final rule that will shorten the Obamacare enrollment period and give insurers more of what they say they need in the individual insurance market, likely making it harder for some consumers to purchase insurance, healthcare experts said.

It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses, the experts said, because it gives insurers more flexibility in determining the value of their coverage.

... The changes under Thursday's final rule include a shortened open enrollment period for Obamacare plans. They also make it harder for people to enroll outside that period, which is allowed under certain circumstances such as a pregnancy or a move.

The rule could also allow insurers to collect unpaid premium payments and make it tougher for people to move in and out of insurance plans, according to healthcare industry experts. The rule also gives states broader authority by removing the federal government's role in overseeing doctor and hospital networks included in insurance plans. Republicans have said any healthcare reform or overhaul must give states more flexibility.


Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-issues-final-rule-stricter-obamacare-enrollment-222842411--business.html

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Death by a thousand cuts.

"It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses, the experts said, because it gives insurers more flexibility in determining the value of their coverage."

Whatever that means

"The rule could also allow insurers to collect unpaid premium payments"

They couldn't before?

"The rule also gives states broader authority by removing the federal government's role in overseeing doctor and hospital networks included in insurance plans"

This doesn't sound good, at least in some states.

[hr]
Unfortunately the article doesn't have any more detail on the changes than what is above. So I don't know what the new open enrollment period will be, etc. The article does provide some general context that I didn't include in the above. The insurers are very unhappy with all the uncertainty around the ACA, such as the threat to withhold cost-sharing subsidies.

[DK504]

1. How the hell is this legal?

After 65 attempts to repeal the ACA and the worst attempt to "replace" it, doesn't some sort of Congressional approval come into play?

[PoliticAverse]

2. The actual ACA gives the Secretary of Health and Human Services great latitude in setting

the rules and regulations for implementation.

Edited to add:

Here's the original 2013 HHS rules and regulations for implementing the ACA , all 606 (double spaced) pages...
pdf: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2013-16271.pdf
html: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/07/15/2013-16271/medicaid-and-childrens-health-insurance-programs-essential-health-benefits-in-alternative-benefit

[dalton99a]

3. And the death doctor Price will do everything he can to undermine, sabotage, and ultimately kill it

[Proud Liberal Dem]

15. Great latitude

Last edited Sun Apr 16, 2017, 09:00 AM - Edit history (2)

As long as Secretary of HHS (or other cabinet official) is Republican. Otherwise, Republicans will sue the pants off of Democratic agency heads to cripple their ability/latitude to do much.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. More rules? What happened to deregulation?

Oh, that's for corporations, I forgot. Real people have to be hamstrung

[turbinetree]

5. These narcissistic assholes think that there should be more capitalists values and more

competition with a free market based system, one problem with that death panel idea, competition means that when you have a lot of doctors they compete against each other for there services and drive down prices, and when you have insurance oligarchies that control the market (their are only seven at most, just like airlines and now coming trucking industries), this is not competitive capitalistic free market system, this is whats called exploitation of service like I don't know, monopolies and there is no competition, like having Medicare for all


So now these assholes want and got another means to have a death panel de jure, right before that famous egg roll christian holiday called Easter---------------go figure


No public hearings again from the speaker of the right wing republican house, probably going to the non sponsored eater egg roll hunt in Janesville smirking, the one and only fucking AYN RAND hypocrite Paul Ryan with his taxpayer supported heath plan (I guess he forgets that Ayn Rand was living off the programs to keep her alive back then like medicare and medicaid) ..............

And then we also gotta just give shout out to one Marco Rubio, and his fucking rider that is causing this mess------------and for all of the Floridians that supported this asshole,............ hey FU-----------hope you fuckers are fucking happy and also lets give a shout out to the "all" of the supporters the deplorable's that have those extra thousand of extra dollars in the pocket to fork over to the same "insurance" companies that want to fuck you and hope you die, and if you can't pay, they still can charge you and get your money, nice huh, another form of legal bankruptcy benefiting the insurance company, put another way, a new debtors prison ---------

How does it feel deplorable's to be just as narcissistic has the asshole(s) that signed off your right to health insurance--------------please let us all know

[Honeycombe8]

6. This is bad news. :( It's all to give $$$ to the ins. cos., and take $$$ from the ACA,

so it can be transferred to the wealthy in the form of tax cuts.

Sounds like they are dropping the pretense of reforming health care for the benefit of the public, and going straight to the money grab from it for the transfer to the wealthy and corporations. They desperately need that money to offset the YUGE deficit that will be caused by the YUGE tax cuts for the wealthy.

[airplaneman]

7. I think I know

"It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses, the experts said, because it gives insurers more flexibility in determining the value of their coverage."

Whatever that means

You see the insurance companies can decide your policy is worthless to you because they are going to give you absolutely nothing for the $1200 per month you give them.
Makes perfect sense to me.
-Airplane

[progree]

8. Bingo!

I found this article:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/insurers-trump-must-more-stabilize-073821081.html

The administration also gave insurers more flexibility to design lower-cost coverage that may attract younger and healthier customers, which would help insurers offset the higher cost of insuring older, less healthy people. That lower-cost coverage could come with a higher deductible, though, which means those customers will need to pay more out of their own pockets for most care before the insurer starts paying.

[tenorly]

9. Removing federal oversight? What could go wrong?

[Fast Walker 52]

11. haha, I see what you did there.... and it's just so sad that criminals like this guy are in charge

when the should be in jail.

[tenorly]

12. If the fact that this reptile is leading our fourth most important state

after pulling the biggest Medicare heist in its history (and being convicted!) isn't proof that our politics is now rotten to the core, I don't know what is.

Oh, wait...

[Sunlei]

14. on the healthcareDOTgov website I can access the list of local doctors who take the plan while I'm

"shopping" for a plan. That type of consumer information access (required by ACA) is what insurance Corporations don't want available to the consumer.

[Fast Walker 52]

10. what does "final rule" mean?

[PoliticAverse]

16. It means no more comments/discussion this is what we've decided the law is going to be. n/t

[Fast Walker 52]

17. that's what I figured, but hard to believe that they won't mess with it more

I suppose if this is the worst they do, for now, it's better than some things they could do.

[Sunlei]

13. open enrollment is only about two months, guess the big 3 insurance corps are fighting over subsidy

subsidy money and profits.

I could see this year with all the TV commercials the insurance industry runs, they must enjoy massive profits.

There's even profits to spare for the knee brace/back brace and catheter supplies medical TV ads "your insurance covers free"