As the CMS seeks to
simplify the application process for exchange plans and Medicaid, payers want to
make it harder for individuals to sign up after open enrollment ends. Meanwhile,
advocates and providers want to decrease barriers and have the agency learn more
about who is signing up, including their sexual orientation.
The
suggestions are in response to a
request
for comment on ways the CMS should overhaul the enrollment process and
applications for Medicaid, the Child's Health Insurance Program and health plans
on federal and state exchanges.
Between 2017 and 2019, the CMS estimates
that more than 21 million newly eligible people will enroll in exchange plans,
Medicaid or CHIP as more states are expected to expand their eligibility for
enrollment. The agency is looking for ways to streamline applications but also
collect more information on who is signing up.
Last month, the CMS
eliminated
several categories of circumstances that allow consumers to get plans
through the marketplaces outside the open-enrollment period. The agency
announced plans to eliminate six of the 30 categories of special enrollment,
including situations where technology woes impacted coverage.
The
announced changes aren't enough, though, plans argue. gMore needs to be done,h
Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini said during an earnings call on Feb. 1.
gThe
lack of predictability and full transparency of the risk-adjustment program,
which is key to long-term program health c limits our ability to offer
affordable, innovative on-exchange products,h he said.
Insurers have
been caught off guard by the amount of people who gain coverage through special
enrollment periods, according to America's Health Insurance Plans.
The
current list of criteria allowing a person to enroll during these periods is
expansive and negatively impacts the risk pool of exchange enrollees, AHIP said.
People gaining coverage through these periods are incurring higher costs than
the rest of the marketplace's risk pool.
The CMS should ask for
documentation to verify a person is eligible for a special-enrollment period,
AHIP said. If they can't furnish proof, issuers should be able to cancel their
policies.
Further, a person shouldn't qualify for special enrollment if
they recently lost coverage because of non-payment of premiums, AHIP
said.
The CMS should change the way it verifies a person's identity for
enrollment purposes, said Families USA, the patient advocacy
organization.
Currently, the identification process relies on credit
histories alone. That poses significant problems for many uninsured individuals
who may have limited credit histories, are legal immigrants but don't have lines
of credit, and those who are victims of identity theft, according to the
organization.
Families USA recommended expanding the data sources during
the identity proofing process to include information enrollees may have provided
to other state programs. In addition, applicants should be able to continue with
the application process and submit an application before the full ID proofing
process is complete. This will ensure that the identity proofing process does
not bar consumers from getting coverage.
The agency should also allow
minors to apply without an adult, added the National Health Law Program. Some
minors may be emancipated and thus are lawfully recognized as independent of
their parents or be homeless.
As part of the application process, the CMS
asks a series of optional demographic questions such as race and primary
language spoken, and the agency should add sexual orientation to that list,
Planned Parenthood said.
That would give the CMS a more comprehensive
understanding of outreach and enrollment efforts, the not-for-profit family
planning organization said.
Tracking sexual orientation also puts the
agency in a better position to identify potential disparities in access to
health coverage and care, said Heron Greenesmith, a Policy Analyst at the LGBT
think tank Movement Advancement Project says.
In her comments,
Greenesmith noted that the bisexual population faces lower rates of health
insurance coverage than lesbian, gay, and straight counterparts, and transgender
people face even lower rates. Tracking when and where LGBT people are signing up
for coverage could shed more light on why this is occurring.