Draft application is long for health exchanges
Application to take 30-45 minutes
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) came out in March with a draft insurance application that showed what applying for benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges might look like.
The application runs 15 pages for a family of three, which extinguishes some hopes that signing up for a plan could be as simple as online shopping, according to the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM).
According to a CNBC/AP article, the online application outline is not much shorter and runs at least 21 steps. Some of the steps have multiple questions included. The information then will be reviewed by at least three major federal agencies, including the IRS, to verify an applicant’s identity, citizenship, and income. The IRS is supposed to process online financial application in real time because the ACA is means-tested, meaning that lower income people get the most generous help to pay premiums. Middle-class applicants will be eligible for tax credits to help pay premiums to private companies, while low income applicants might be eligible for social programs such as Medicaid.
The draft applications in paper and online form were posted by HHS seeking feedback from consumer and industry groups. HHS estimates that the online application will take about 30 minutes to complete, and the paper version will take about 45 minutes. Some groups are concerned that at that length, the form might overwhelm uninsured people and lead them to simply give up. Giving up will be an issue next year when carrying health insurance becomes mandatory.
HHS estimates it will receive more than 4.3 million applications for financial assistance in 2014, with online applications accounting for about 80% of them. Because families can apply together, the government estimates 16 million people will be served. (To read the entire CNBC/AP article, go to http://www.cnbc.com/id/100548997.)
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) came out in March with a draft insurance application that showed what applying for benefits under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges might look like.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content