CMS: Payers Will Have More Time to File 2018 Health Plan Rates
CMS issued a letter to payers saying that they will have an extra three weeks to submit updated 2018 health plan rates.
Source: Thinkstock
By - Payers still debating how uncertainty over cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies will alter their insurance prices now have more time to submit 2018 health plan rates, CMS announced in a letter to insurers.
While the letter says there's no plan to not to pay out CSRs, CMS will extend the deadline to submit insurance rates by three weeks to a final date of September 5th. The extension follows the decision of several state departments that permitted payers to increase the rates of silver-level plans based on potential subsidy losses.
Payers can expect CMS to post final rate filing information by the time open enrollment begins on November 1st.
CMS also said that they plan on adjusting the current risk adjustment calculations set by HHS so state payers can account for the money usually subsidized by the CSRs.
“Many state departments of insurance (DOIs) have permitted issuers to increase rates for their silver metal level plans for the 2018 benefit year in order to account for uncompensated liability that issuers may face for cost-sharing reductions provided to eligible insured individuals,” CMS said in the letter.
“As a result, CMS intends to propose a modification to the HHS risk adjustment methodology in future rulemaking for states in which all marketplace issuers increase silver metal plan rates to account for cost-sharing reduction payments in this manner,” the agency continued.
These subsidies offset $7 billion in healthcare costs that help low-income beneficiaries pay for healthcare, and allow payers to mitigate rising premiums for other enrollees.
Ongoing policy debates in the US Senate, House of Representatives, and the Trump Administration has led payers to preemptively raise insurance rates.
Earlier this summer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina explained to the public that they were fully aware their rate increases were a direct result of anticipating that the CSRs would not be paid. BCBS of NC CEO Brad Wilson recognized that raising premiums would likely lead some beneficiaries to stop seeking coverage.
“With no funding for the federal payments for cost-sharing reduction plans, Blue NC will need to factor the missing federal payments into our 2018 rates. That will drive more customers away from coverage and toward being uninsured,” he said.
CMS also provided guidance for states that do not allow issuers in their state to modify 2018 rate filings, and directed these states to inform CMS by September 5, 2017 via email at RateReview@cms.hhs.gov.
