Critics in Austin & Washington Cry Foul on GOP Efforts to Defund, Over-Regulate Affordable Care Act Implementation

Posted byHoumanitarian

THURSDAY TOP NEWS LINKS:

While GOP leaders in Washington seem bent on throwing every budget hurdle possible in front of implementation of the Affordable Care Act, here in Texas the Governor has made a very late request for the Texas Department of Insurance to forge additional rules critics say are only intent to be burdensome and create havoc as the program rolls-out next month.

Online health care marketplaces are set to open on Oct. 1st.
Online health care marketplaces are set to open on Oct. 1st.

Becca Aaronson, Texas Tribune
Gov. Rick Perry has directed the Texas Department of Insurance to establish strict rules to regulate so-called navigators trained to help Texans purchase health coverage under Obamacare.

While the governor says the extra regulations will ensure that people handling Texans’ private financial and health information are properly trained and qualified, the rules could present a significant roadblock to organizations helping to implement the federal Affordable Care Act.

“This is blatant attempt to add cumbersome requirements to the navigator program and deter groups from working to inform Americans about their new health insurance options and help them enroll in coverage,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in an email.

Along with many other provisions in President Obama’s signature health reform law, the individual mandate to purchase health insurance is set to take effect on Jan. 1. Texas’ Republican majority, which vehemently opposes the federal health law, declined to establish a state-based insurance marketplace. The federal government is doing it instead, launching an Orbitz-like online insurance exchange starting Oct. 1. That exchange will require individuals to input sensitive tax information, including their Social Security numbers and estimated annual income, to determine whether they qualify for tax credits to purchase coverage.

To help uninsured Texans use the complicated new system, the federal government awarded nearly $11 million in August to local organizations charged with hiring and training navigators, who will help consumers input their financial information and pick a health plan through in the exchange, must undergo 20 to 30 hours of training, pass a certification test and renew their certification annually, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

For Perry, those ground rules are not enough….

…In the letter, Perry specifically directed TDI to establish rules that require navigators to complete at minimum of 40 hours of state training in addition to the federal training requirements. He also demanded that navigators pass a rigorous exam based on that training, refrain from influencing a consumer’s insurance choice by recommending a specific plan or comparing benefits offered by different plans, and submit to periodic background and regulatory checks and show state identification while on the job.

He also directed TDI to maintain a database of registered navigators, including background checks and fingerprints; set limits on when and where navigators can enroll people in the exchange; charge fees to provide navigator training and registration; and establish the department’s authority to suspend or revoke navigators’ registration for failing to comply with state requirements…
(Read more of this article at The Texas Tribune)

RELATED STORIES:

OTHER LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:

TEXAS HEADLINES:

NATION & WORLD:

Related articles

 

Enhanced by Zemanta