Millions of Americans newly eligible for quality, affordable health coverage in 2014
Administration proposes guidance for Medicaid, health insurance marketplaces
Because
of the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans will be newly
eligible to receive quality, affordable health care through Medicaid and
the new health insurance marketplaces (also known as the Exchanges) in
2014. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today
released a proposed rule that promotes consistent policies and
processes for eligibility notices and appeals in Medicaid, the
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Exchanges and give
states more flexibility when operating their Medicaid programs. HHS
encourages all Americans to review and submit comments on the proposed
rule.
“Before
the health care law was passed, millions of Americans were unable to
obtain or afford quality health coverage,” Secretary Sebelius said.
“Today, we are proposing a rule to provide Americans with access to
affordable, high quality health coverage and give states more
flexibility to implement the law in a way that works for them.”
Beginning
in 2014, the health care law provides new opportunities for Medicaid
coverage for adults who earn up to 133 percent of poverty -- $14,865 for
an individual or $30,656 for a family of four. Other Americans looking
for coverage will be eligible to buy it through a health insurance
marketplace, where many will be eligible for tax credits to make
coverage more affordable. The rules proposed today will help develop
systems that will make it easy for consumers to determine if they are
eligible for Medicaid or tax credits that make insurance more
affordable.
Today’s
proposed rule includes information on how consumers will receive
coordinated communications on eligibility determinations and can appeal
eligibility determinations. It gives states flexibility in designing
benefits and determining cost sharing in the Medicaid program. The
proposed rule also provides flexibility to state-based Exchanges by
allowing them to choose to rely on HHS for verifying whether an
individual has employer-sponsored coverage and conducting some types of
appeals.
For more information on this proposed rule, please visit: http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/
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