The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), a division of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), recently posted new guidance concerning federally-facilitated and state-based Exchanges (Marketplaces) established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The guidance purports that if states do not adhere to and enforce the requisite standards for health insurance issuers in federally-facilitated Exchanges, then CMS intends to coerce enforcement through civil penalties and plan decertification. CMS does not believe that decertification will be a common occurrence. In addition, the guidance stated that qualified health plans (QHP) paired with health savings accounts (HSA) must meet the cost-sharing reduction standards that apply to low income-individuals. CCIIO published additional guidance that expands upon which activities, in both federally-facilitated and state-based Marketplaces, that qualify for grant funding under ACA Section 1311. For instance, state-based Marketplaces are not permitted to use this funding for navigator outreach and education, yet they are allowed to use Section 1311 funds for "in-person assistance programs."

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today released a proposed rule on benefits and payment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The proposed rule outlines how CMS plans to run federal exchanges and suggests how risk adjustment data should be collected. The rule also lays out the three-year transitional program that the federal government will run to maintain premium costs in the individual market, and projected that premiums will be 10 to 15 percent lower than they would have been without the reinsurance program. With regard to the reinsurance program, CMS said that federal exchanges can impose a user fee on health plans to finance the exchanges. However, to prevent the user fees from making the health plans less attractive, CMS is asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to exempt the requirement that those fees cover the whole cost in 2014. Before 2014, it wants to cap the monthly fee rate at "3.5 percent of the monthly premium charged by the issuer for a particular policy under the plan." The goal of the rule is to stabilize the new exchange market, limit risk, and smooth over the transition. Comments on HHS’s proposed rule are due December 31.

Late yesterday, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius extended the deadline for states to decide whether to run their own exchange until December 14, 2012. The Republican Governors Association (RGA) sent a letter requesting the extension to Sebelius on Wednesday November 14, 2012, just two days prior to the initial deadline. This is the second time in a week that the Secretary has made extensions to key Exchange deadlines, having also recently extended the deadline to submit the state-run exchange blueprint paperwork (also December 14, 2012) and the deadline of whether a state will choose to partner with the federal government on their exchange (February 15, 2013).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today extended the deadline for states to submit Exchange Blueprint documents, until December 14, 2012. States must still notify HHS of their intent to pursue a state-run exchange by November 16, 2012, but now have an additional month to formally submit the Blueprint. Additionally, the deadline for states to decide on whether to pursue a state-federal partnership Exchange has been extended until February 15, 2013, a full three months beyond the original November 16, 2012 deadline. This decision by HHS should allow states more time to make crucial post-election decisions as to what kind of Exchange they intend to pursue, as well as allow the Administration more time to issue key regulations.

Today, the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, a division within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), released the final version of the approval for state-based health insurance Exchanges. An Exchange is an entity that both facilitates the purchase of Qualified Health Plans (QHP) by qualified individuals and provides for the establishment of a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), consistent with provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Exchanges will provide competitive marketplaces for individuals and small employers to directly compare and purchase private health insurance options based on price, quality, and other factors.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today a new funding opportunity to help states continue to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA). When the ACA is full implemented in 2014, the Exchanges will provide individuals and small businesses with a one-stop shop to find, compare, and purchase quality, affordable health insurance. HHS also issued further guidance today to help states understand the full scope of activities that can be funded under the available grants. The funding opportunity announced today will provide states with 10 additional opportunities to apply for funding to establish a state-based exchange, state partnership exchange, or to prepare state systems for a federally facilitated exchange. To date, 34 states and the District of Columbia have received approximately $850 million in Exchange Establishment Level One and Level Two cooperative agreements to fund their progress toward building exchanges.