Ohio uncertain of whether to use federal fallback exchange; Illinois to pursue state-federal exchange venture; and CMS rolls out exchange simulations in this week's HIX Digest.
Ohio uncertain over state vs federal HIX
Like lawmakers elsewhere leery of the Affordable Care Act, state officials in Ohio are weighing their options for health insurance exchanges.
The Health Policy Institute of Ohio outlined the state's options and their potential impacts in a recent policy brief. Researchers wrote that while the exchanges bring a number of benefits, currently there is concern "about entering into a venture where some details have not yet been disclosed and/or determined, particularly with regard to ongoing funding of state or hybrid exchange responsibilities."
Illinois picks state-federal partnership
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has announced his administration will pursue a joint state-federal exchange. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Quinn, a Democrat, wrote that his administration also wanted to pursue exchange plan management and consumer assistance functions.
The state government's authority over the exchange will be shared by the Department of Health and Family Services and the Department of Insurance.
CMS offers a sense of the ACA market with HIX game
The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), a part of CMS, is hosting a series of role-playing exchange simulations for state health and insurance officials, insurers and other stakeholders, to offer a sense of expected market dynamics under ACA premium stabilization mechanisms.
The exchange market simulation will be a competition among four teams representing a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, a PPO, an HMO and a Medicaid managed care plan. Each team will be assigned a starting position (pre-2014 membership) and given certain details of potential new enrollees.
The simulation will have two markets, one with a dominant insurer and one that's more competitive. The game is supposed to reflect a market under the ACA, with guaranteed issue, rate restrictions and other regulations. After the pretend bidding, the simulation is supposed to give an indication of potential profitability under various conditions.
The Tennessee Insurance Exchange Planning Initiative is taking RSVPs by November 2 at Insurance.Exchange@tn.gov.