Health-Exchange-Alert

States will have to cut services and lay off workers without additional COVID-19 relief and increased flexibility from Congress, the National Governors Association said after it found states on average have allocated nearly 90% of their relief and most are on target to spend it all by the end of the year.

CMS has posted the plan and pricing information for the 2021 benefit year on healthcare.gov for consumers to preview ahead of this Sunday’s (Nov. 1) launch of the ACA’s eighth open enrollment period.

Web-based brokers working to sign consumers up for Affordable Care Act or Medicare private coverage expect the pandemic to drive more people to online services, and one major broker has boosted capacity to prepare for the expected surge.

A new survey of health care priorities among young to middle-aged women says the policy implications for the next administration are clear: The next president must ensure that preexisting conditions are protected, Medicaid is extended in all states, subsides are available to help buy coverage, mental health and substance abuse issues are covered with parity to medical benefits, and telehealth and other remote care is covered.

CMS on Tuesday (Oct. 20) approved a waiver that allows adult Medicaid beneficiaries in Nebraska to receive additional benefits, including vision and dental, if they participate in work requirements.

The average premiums for qualified health plans (QHPs) sold through healthcare.gov will decrease by 2%, and 22 more insurers intend to sell plans in 2021, according to a new CMS report out on Monday.

A loose coalition of 33 patient organizations has developed a 100-day plan, tailor-made for a Democratic White House and Congress, that seeks to reverse Trump administration policies viewed as undermining the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, and to institute patient-centered coverage expansions.

GOP Gov. Brian Kemp and CMS Administrator Seema Verma talked up Georgia’s 1332 waiver during a Thursday event to announce the agency will be approving the state’s controversial request to exit healthcare.gov and rely on its own agents, brokers and insurers -- although they have yet to agree on the final terms.

Health care navigators tasked with helping consumers purchase coverage through healthcare.gov have been preparing to tackle one the most challenging open enrollment periods to date by moving to virtual enrollment method signups to keep consumers and workers safe during the pandemic, while also facing a dearth of guidance from an administration that is trying to scrap the very law that navigators are trying to get consumers to embrace.