Nov 4 2013
The top trade group for health insurers, among others, is attempting to explain the "why" behind these recent developments.
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Q&A: Explaining The Widespread Health-Plan Cancellations
As many as 10 million Americans are expected to have their health plans terminated by their insurers effective Jan. 1 or after. Here's a look at who's affected, why and options for staying covered (Needleman and Martin, 10/31).
The Hill: AHIP Seeks To Explain Health Plan Regs
The top trade group for health insurance companies is seeking to explain why some policies on the individual market are being canceled ahead of 2014. In a memo to reporters, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) said that many health plans purchased individually must be cancelled because they've been changed or purchased since 2010, the year ObamaCare was enacted (Viebeck, 10/31).
Reuters: Canceled U.S. Health Plans Are Disruptive Part Of Reform: Cigna CEO
The hundreds of thousands of Americans whose individual insurance policies will be canceled as Obamacare takes full effect next year are experiencing a disruptive element of healthcare reform, the head of health insurer Cigna said on Thursday. In the past week, reports of pending plan cancellations have become a political problem for President Barack Obama, who promised years ago as he was pushing to pass the healthcare law that Americans who liked their health plans could keep them (Humer, 11/1).
The Miami Herald/Kaiser Health News: Florida Insurer Says It Didn't Drop Customers, Just Insurance Plans
This month, Florida Blue, the state's largest and oldest health insurer, notified 300,000 members that when their plans expire in 2014 they must enroll in new plans that comply with requirements of the ACA that insurers offer coverage to everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions, and that plans cover 10 'essential health benefits'' such as hospitalization, prescription drugs and maternity care" (Chang, 10/31).
The Associated Press: 150,000 In Ore. To Face Health Plan Cancellation
About 150,000 Oregonians enrolled in individual health care plans will see their plans cancelled by the end of the year because the plans don't provide the minimum level of coverage required under the new health care law, Oregon officials said on Wednesday. Some of those facing cancelations could see a break in coverage if they don't enroll in a new plan on the state's problem-plagued online exchange by Dec. 15, the state's Insurance Division spokeswoman Cheryl Martinis said (Wozniacka, 10/31).
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 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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APIC and SHEA launch collaborative initiative to strengthen national infection prevention efforts