State to insurers: file plans early [Fairfield County Business Journal]
By Gallagher, Patrick | |
Proquest LLC |
With the state's Health Insurance Exchange less than a year away from opening enrollment, the
Under the Affordable Care Act, states opting to develop their own health care exchanges must have them in place by
In hopes of facilitating a smoother launch, CID requested that insurance carriers planning to offer coverage through the Connecticut Health Insurance Exchange (HIX) file policies and certificates for plans for state approval by the end of November, according to a
"We're just trying to get a little bit of a jump-start so there will be a smooth transition for when all of these things take effect," said
Breault said HIX, a quasi-governmental state agency that will oversee the management of
It is still too early for CID to request that carriers seeking to offer coverage through HIX submit details regarding proposed benefits and rates, Breault said. She said state officials are still awaiting guidance from the federal government that will help them to determine the types of benefits that would be expected to be included in plans listed on the
"Once that guidance comes out, then the carriers can start coming out with the actual plan designs," Breault said. "But the policy forms - the policies and certificates - we think the carriers can start making those filings, now so we're not flooded next year.
While CID has no direct jurisdiction over the exchange, it is responsible for approving all insurance policies, benefits and rates available to
As the clock ticks down to Jan: 1, 2014 - when a number of regulatory changes prescribed by the Affordable Care Act take effect - CID anticipates a surge in approval requests for policies that would be included in the exchange as well as for policies that would be sold in the commercial market, Breault said.
CID is requiring that complete contracts be filed for all individual and small group policies issued by carriers on or after
Policies and certificates to be offered outside of HIX may be filed after November, but they must be filed at least three months before carriers propose to market them to consumers and businesses.
Copyright: | (c) 2012 Westfair Communications |
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