New Hampshire to have more health insurance carriers in ACA exchange

Details Published Date: Tuesday, 24 June 2014 01:18

CONWAY - Many more health insurance choices will be made available to New Hampshire residents looking for coverage through the Affordable Care Act's exchange, said state health officials Thursday at the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council's Eggs and Issues.

When the federal ACA exchange--an online marketplace to purchase private health insurance--opened last fall, Anthem was the only health insurance company offering plans. Anthem offers about 14 plans.

Beginning in November, the start of the next enrollment period, New Hampshire residents will be able to choose from five insurance companies that in total will offer more than 50 plans. Carroll County's two hospitals, Memorial, in Conway, and Huggins, in Wolfeboro, both accept plans from all five providers. Next year, all of New Hampshire's 26 hospitals will have contracts with at least three carriers.

'The big news we want to convey and we're excited about is in the New Hampshire marketplace we will have five issuers, which represents a lot more choice than we had in year one when we only had one carrier in the marketplace,' said Deputy Commissioner of the NH Insurance Department Alexander Feldvebel. 'So, that's a big difference. We didn't know that was going to happen and so we're very happy we have that.'

The exchange's roster for next year will have Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Assurant Health, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of New England, and two co-ops: Massachusetts‐based Minuteman Health and Maine Community Health.

Feldvebel said another key piece of information is that there will be narrow and broad network plans. Narrow network plans, on average, are 25 percent cheaper than broader network plans. At first, carriers offered narrow networks because they were under the impression that consumers cared more about saving money than having local doctors.'There is a sizable population that prefers to save the money and there's a sizable population that prefers to have the choice,' said Feldvebel.There are still some steps that need to be taken before the plans are ready to be sold to the public.The New Hampshire Health Insurance Department will make a recommendation to the federal government regarding the carriers' plans in August. Then the federal government will review the recommendation before the plans are available for sale.

Rep. Ed Butler (D-Hart's Location) wondered why all these new carriers showed up now.'How did we succeed in such an impressive way?' said Butler.Feldvebel replied there were several factors. Insurance carriers needed more time to make products available. He also said that the individual health insurance market seemed to be perking up and that attracted more carriers to New Hampshire. The individual market went from being 20,000 people to close to 100,000. The federal government gave loans that led to the creation of insurance cooperatives like the ones that are coming to New Hampshire. Expansion of Medicaid was also a factor, he said.Not all the comments were positive. One woman said that the new system dis-incentivizes people from getting married because couples can get cheaper insurance as individuals.Panelists said they are not trying to discourage marriage.

Pat Kittle, of Minuteman Press, said the small group health insurance he offers his employees has become much more expensive.'My rates went up like 35 percent this year which seems not very affordable,' said Kittle. 'I just don't know if there's any general reason why it should increase such a drastic amount.'Feldvebel replied rules changed and that caused increases for some. The rule change caused some groups to go up and to go down. He said the largest swing was about the size that Kittle saw. Feldvebel told Kittle that Kittle could provide a health insurance stipend for employees who sought coverage on the individual market. Feldvebel said the issue is the stipend is after tax.

Conway Daily Sun Publisher Mark Guerringue said if the stipend were pre-tax it would 'help decouple' health insurance from employers and provide employees more freedom.Aaron Holman, of Coveringnewhampshire.org, also spoke. Covering New Hampshire is an outreach organization that helps people understand the ACA. The Covering New Hampshire website includes information about who qualifies for premium assistance. For instance, a one person household with an income of between $11,490 and $45,960 may qualify. For a household of two, the income range is $15,510 to $62,040. For a family of four, the income ranges is $23,550 to $94,200.Holman said the most important message his group is trying to deliver to the public is if you make less money you will pay less for insurance and that could be as little as $50 per month. Holman said plans can be cheaper than that but people were suspicious of anything that cost less than $50.New Hampshire did the best out of any state on the federal exchange in terms of beating expectations.'New Hampshire performed above the federal expectations to the highest percentage of any state,' said Holman adding over the course of open enrollment New Hampshire and Maine were neck and neck.Holman said 19,000 New Hampshire residents were expected to sign up for insurance during the last enrollment period but 40,000 signed up by March 31 - the last day of the last open enrollment.

Another 58,000 people will be eligible for Medicaid expansion. Open enrollment in for 2015 will begin on Nov. 15 for coverage to start on Jan. 1. Enrollment closes Feb. 15. People can buy insurance outside of open enrollment if they have a major life change like a marriage.

On July 1, New Hampshire residents can start enrolling in the expanded Medicaid system.

'The program, formerly known as Medicaid Expansion, extends health care coverage to New Hampshire citizens who are between 19 and 65 years of age and have a household income of up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level,' according to New Hampshire Citizens Alliance. 'Applications may be submitted beginning on July 1 online at www.nheasy.nh.gov, by calling the Medicaid Service Center at 1-888-901-4999, by visiting a DHHS district office or through healthcare.gov.'