Exchanges

Republicans hoping to use a little-known rule to repeal the Affordable Care Act may have hit a snag.

This year, sign-ups for private health plans in California, New York and other states that opted to build and run their own insurance markets has stagnated. Yet in more conservative parts of the country that declined to participate and where enrollment is run by the federal government, sign-ups have surged.

Approximately 800,000 taxpayers who received health care coverage through the federal insurance marketplace Healthcare.gov were sent the wrong information on their Form 1095-A and are being urged to wait to file their taxes until the first week of March when they receive the correct information from the federal government.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday morning announced it will implement a special enrollment period for individuals who learn, at the time they file their taxes, of the Affordable Care Act-mandated tax penalty for not having health insurance coverage.

As the Supreme Court gets set to hear oral arguments next month in King v. Burwell, a case challenging the permissibility of subsidies to those who purchase health insurance on the federal exchange, states with hybrid exchanges could face a difficult decision should the Supreme Court ultimately rule the use of tax credits on the federal exchange is impermissible.

Both the Obama administration and states that run their own health insurance marketplaces are considering an extra enrollment period for tax filers who learn they owe a fine for not carrying insurance.

Five years down the road, the insurance broker’s role in health insurance may be diminished, largely due to exchanges, consultants say. The role of the broker will change greatly in the process, they say, but in the near term it is a mixed story.

Giving people more time to sign up for health coverage could increase costs.

Obama touts new enrollment estimates via Facebook video.

Former president Bill Clinton once conveyed messages of hope by referring to a small town by the same name, and the place of his birth, in Arkansas. Once again, hope springs eternal in the Natural State – this time for preserving and advancing a model that other conservative regions could emulate in crafting a viable political alternative to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.