Minnesota gets more grant money, 70 HIX questions from state lawmaker; Nebraska and Hawaii choose minimum benefit levels; and private exchanges on the rise in this week's HIX Digest.
Minnesota HIX gets third grant, 70 questions from opposition lawmaker
Minnesota, four other states and Washington D.C. recently received another round of health insurance exchange (HIX) grants from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The $42.5 million grant -- to be used for developing programs for brokers and navigators, consumer testing and security -- brings Minnesota's total HHS HIX funding to $70 million. It comes amid continued concern from business groups and state Republican lawmakers, who say Democratic Governor Mark Dayton has been translucent, if not opaque, on details regarding HIX governance, budget and regulations.
Dayton, who created the HIX via executive order, recently switched HIX planning and oversight from the state commerce department to the Minnesota Management and Budget agency. Even so, Republican state representative Steve Gottwalt, chair of the Health and Human Services Reform Committee, has asked the Minnesota Commerce Commissioner, Mike Rotham, to answer 70 questions regarding the state's HIX, the Minnesota Post reported.
Many of the questions are the same ones hanging over pretty much every state, whether they're creating their own exchanges or will be taking a model from the federal government. Among them: Will the HIX's governance board be a private non-profit, a quasi-governmental body or a state agency? What will be its annual budget? How will it be funded? Will it be a market organizer or an active purchaser?
Nebraska, Hawaii, set minimum benefits
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman, a Republican, has chosen a benchmark plan for health insurance sold in the state, in or outside of the HIX, come 2014, the Omaha World Herald reported.
Heineman chose a package with a $4,000 annual deductible for individuals and $8,000 for families, for in-network providers. The plan is 28 percent cheaper than the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan recommended by the state insurance commissioner, the World Herald wrote, but still meets the minimum federal requirements.
Some advocacy groups criticized the pick, saying it was chosen without public input and that the high deductible could leave some people vulnerable. Nebraska is still undecided on whether to create a HIX and is waiting for the outcome of the election.
[See also: The good news on ACOs]
In Hawaii, Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie announced that a Preferred Provider Plan crafted by the Hawaii Medical Service Association will be the benchmark plan for the state's HIX, the Hawaii Health Connector.
Private HIXs growing
As state governments scramble to meet federal deadlines--or ignore them--some businesses and business groups are turning to private HIXs as a way to provide insurance for their employees.
Benefits and human resources consultant Aon Hewitt announced recently that it's going to be selling health insurance through an exchange, geared towards employers with more than 100 employees, with 100,000 people expected to enroll through the exchange this fall.
Notably, Sears and Darden Restaurants--parent company of the Olive Garden, Red Lobster and others--are going to be giving their employees credits to buy insurance in Aon Hewitt's exchange, as the Wall Street Journal reported.
With plans offered through nine national and regional carriers, including UnitedHealth Group and Cigna, the Aon Hewitt exchange will offer a viable alternative to the expensive status quo and will be offered regardless of the fate of the Affordable Care Act, Ken Sperling, the company's health exchange strategy leader, said in a press release.
"There are examples in every industry, including iTunes, Amazon.com and Orbitz, where the introduction of competition on a retail, consumer level has driven down prices and made the industry more efficient," Sperling said.
Also, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce announced a partnership with Flexible Benefit Service Corporation to offer Chicago area small businesses the option of letting their employees buy health insurance through Flexible Benefit's InsureXSolutions exchange.