The White House has decided to further extend the use of health plans that don't comply with Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requirements, according to a report from The Hill.
Consumers will now be able to renew non-PPACA compliant plans through Oct. 1, 2016, which means some of the old policies will still be in effect in 2017. Senior administration officials told reporters the extension won't significantly affect the PPACA's implementation and will give individual consumers more flexibility, according to the report.
The move will also shield a number of Democratic members of Congress from the potential blowback the cancelation of old policies could have caused just before midterm elections, according to the report.
Late last year, President Obama initially decided to let health insurers continue offering plans that don't meet the reform law's requirements through the end of this year. Originally, non-grandfathered policies — plans that went into effect or underwent certain changes after the PPACA became law in March 2010 — had to meet new coverage requirements in 2014, and many insurers sent out cancellation notices to people in non-grandfathered plans that weren't compliant with the new criteria.
Prior to yesterday's announcement, an expected second extension for non-PPACA compliant plans had become an "open secret" in the insurance and health policy world, with insurers predicting the White House would allow old health plans to continue for one to three more years.
In December, Moody's Investors Services issued a report stating the extension of noncompliant plans could lead younger, healthier people to stay away from the exchanges in 2014, resulting in a negative effect on the profile of the exchange health risk-pool. According to another Moody's report released last month, extending those plans again will "exacerbate the issue and will likely result in higher premiums for exchange policies with an insured population that will be less healthy and less profitable for insurers."
More Articles on PPACA Policy Changes:
Obama Administration Expected to Extend Non-PPACA Compliant Plans Again
Recent PPACA Policy Changes Will Negatively Affect Insurers, Moody's Says
3 Key Findings About the Effects of Health Plan Extensions