After the US Department of Health & Human Services pushed back the deadline for states to apply for a state-run health insurance exchange (HIE), talk started again in the Michigan Legislature about SB 693, which aimed to create a state-run health insurance exchange. A health insurance exchange is a marketplace for insurance products that is required under the Affordable Care Act. However, after failing to resolve in a timely manner the multitude of questions and concerns that arose, the bill effectively died.
What Will State-Fed Partnership Mean for Michigan?
The governor’s office has said that under the partnership, Michigan will most likely handle certifying health plans that sell their products on the exchange, as well as customer assistance services. Also, Michigan will perform Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility determinations.
Per the ACA, states were required to select the benchmark Essential Health Benefits plan by the end of September. After soliciting public comment, Governor Snyder’s administration selected Priority Health to serve as the state’s EHB benchmark plan.
The exchanges are required by ACA to be open for business in 2014. Down the road, Michigan will have the option of converting from the state-federal partnership to a state-run exchange.
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For more information, contact Stacey Hettiger at MSMS at 517-336-5766 or shettiger@msms.org.