Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe has directed the state Insurance Department to expedite the release of detailed information on the rates that will be charged for plans on the state's insurance exchange for coverage starting Jan. 1, a state official told lawmakers Thursday.
Meanwhile, the director of the Arkansas Department of Human Services told members of the Legislature's House and Senate public health committees that his department will wait until next year's legislative session to seek approval of a program allowing the state to move 2,800 people off a waiting list for home-based services, such as help with daily living tasks.
Beebe's directive to the Insurance Department comes after a request Tuesday by Arkansas' four members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Arkansas congressmen, all Republicans, said in a letter to Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford that consumers need the information on the rates as soon as possible to evaluate their health insurance options.
The Insurance Department previously had not planned to release the rates until they are approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That approval is expected by Nov. 3.
The open enrollment period for coverage starting Jan. 1 will begin Nov. 15.
"It is [Beebe's] desire and our desire to get those rates to consumers in as timely and as accurate a manner as we can do that," Deputy Insurance Commissioner Cynthia Crone told legislators.
She said she expected the release to happen in a week to 10 days, after the department compiles the data submitted by insurance companies into a "usable reporting format."
"We are confident that you and your constituents will be pleased with the way the rates have come in for this year," Crone said.
The department reported last month that premiums would drop an average of 2.2 percent compared with this year's rates.
That includes an average increase of 2 percent for plans offered by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the national Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, a 12 percent decrease for plans offered by St. Louis-based Centene Corp., and a 5 percent increase for Little Rock-based QualChoice Health Insurance's plans.
The release of the summary information came days after the Arkansas Times and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported information on the rates that was accidentally posted on the Insurance Department's website.
U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin of Little Rock said Tuesday that he was concerned that the release of the full details on the rates for next year could be released as late as Nov. 3, the day before Election Day.
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the Democratic governor's decision to release the full details on the rates came in response to "concerns about the potential politics surrounding the timing" of the release.
"We knew that [Insurance Department officials] were awaiting final feedback, but once the governor saw the actual date, he told them, as long as it's OK with everyone else, let's go ahead and speed up that process," DeCample said.
State Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison and chairman of the House Public Health Committee, said he supports the expedited release.
"To my knowledge, there was no reason not to," he said. "Consumers need to know what they're going to pay."
Established in every state under the 2010 federal health care overhaul law, insurance exchanges allow people to shop for coverage and apply for subsidies to help them pay for it.
As of Aug. 31, more than 211,000 people were enrolled in Arkansas' exchange, including 172,761 who were enrolled in Medicaid-funded plans under the so-called private option.
Under a program known as the Community First Choice Option, the federal health law also allows states to receive enhanced Medicaid funding to provide in-home care to the elderly and disabled. States that receive the funding must provide the services to all who are eligible.
Arkansas submitted an amendment to its state Medicaid plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services in January that would allow it to implement the program.
State Human Services Department Director John Selig said the state had planned to present rules for the program to the Legislature for review as early November and start the program early next year.
On Thursday, however, he said officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had questions about the state's proposal.
"What we've submitted is a little bit different than what they're used to seeing," Selig said. "They've asked some questions. We think it's going to take a little time to answer them."
He also said the department needs time to answer questions from legislators concerned about the cost of the program and federal requirements that would come with the funding.
If lawmakers approve the program's rules during next year's session, the program could start around July 1, he said.
After the meeting, Little Rock attorney Dana McClain, who has a 21-year-old daughter on the waiting list, called the delay "a disservice to all Arkansans with disabilities and their families."
She said the waiting list violates a federal requirement for services to be provided with "reasonable promptness."
Selig also told lawmakers that Human Services Department officials have made a final decision not to seek an increase this year in the spending limit set under the terms of the federal waiver authorizing the private option.
Through Aug. 31, the per-enrollee cost of the private option has averaged $491.49 a month, according to a report presented to the committees Thursday.
The waiver terms set a monthly cost target of $477.63 per enrollee for 2014. That target increases 4.7 percent each year -- to $500.08 in 2015 and $523.58 in 2016.
Under the waiver's terms, the monthly cost targets will be used to calculate an overall spending cap for a three-year demonstration period. The federal government will pay the full cost of the program through 2016 as long as the cost is below the cap.
If the cost exceeds the cap, Arkansas will owe the difference to the federal government.
The deadline for the state to seek an adjustment in this year's cost target is Wednesday.
According to an Insurance Department report, premiums for private-option plans will drop next year but will "essentially remain flat" compared with this year's.
Because of the lower premiums, the costs for next year are expected to be well below the monthly per enrollee target for 2015 of $500.08, Selig said. He added that next year will carry more weight in the calculation of the cap because the average monthly enrollment will be higher in 2015 than it was this year, when the program was just starting.
"If we're over a little bit this year, it will more than be compensated for next year," Selig said.
Metro on 09/26/2014