Otter, Little hit road to promote new, cheaper health insurance option
The two will bring the same message to a "Capital for a Day" event in
"We're trying to get people to understand that the executive order actually goes to those people that have been priced out of the market," Otter said Monday from
"The no-action alternative is terrible," Little added. "We had to do something. ... We had to say, 'How do we make this to where people have affordable insurance?'"
The proposal has brought
Last week, Cameron's department issued guidelines for the new "state-based" insurance plans. All seven categories of required minimum benefits stayed in, from preventive care to hospitalization, as did requirements to cover dependents up to age 26 on their parents' plans. But the guidelines allow higher out-of-pocket maximums; exclusion of pre-existing conditions for those who haven't had continuous coverage for 63 days prior to enrolling; broader age-rating differences; and other changes that Cameron said are likely to result in much lower rates, including the ability for insurers to offer lower rates to healthier customers.
Any insurer offering one of the new state-based plans, Cameron said, would still be required to offer ACA-compliant plans as well. "They're required to be part of the same risk pool," he said. "We see these plans as attracting the healthy back into that risk pool, which helps mitigate costs that the unhealthy are incurring. We think in the long run, it will be better for all
Anyone with a pre-existing condition or age-rating concerns would likely opt for the ACA-compliant option, Cameron said, as would anyone who would qualify for a subsidy on the state insurance exchange.
Little said, "This is a way to pick up that 70,000 to 100,000 people that just keep dropping out of our pool."
Cameron said he had a conference call with federal regulators, and then submitted the guidelines as soon as they were complete last week. He hasn't yet heard back. "I guess I would anticipate that they may have some additional questions, and we stand ready to answer those," he said.
Otter said Little took the lead on helping develop the plan when Otter was out for repeated back surgeries last summer, and has stayed in the loop ever since. "He was part of the all the discussions we had with the carriers ... and I was not," Otter said. "And that's why it was important for me to include Brad on this information tour."
Little also is running for governor; Otter has endorsed him.
Last week, a day after Cameron's office issued the guidelines,
Cameron noted that currently, under the ACA, Idahoans can legally purchase short-term, 10-month insurance plans with 12-month pre-existing condition exclusions, and 3,500 have done so. The new state-based plans will be a better option, he said, with better coverage.
Otter said the executive order follows the lead of
Little said, "To me, it's a very
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