The Biden administration on Friday put in place stringent curbs aimed at thwarting rogue insurance brokers from switching consumers’ Affordable Care Act plans without their consent.
The announcement came in response to mounting complaints from consumers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Friday that, in the first six months of the year, more than 200,000 people reported to the agency that they were either enrolled in Obamacare plans or switched from one plan to another without their permission.
KFF Health News began reporting on Affordable Care Act enrollment schemes this spring.
CMS said insurance agents will be blocked from making changes to any Obamacare enrollments made through the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, unless the agent is already “associated” with a consumer’s policy.
Additionally, agents who can’t prove an association — which is undefined in the agency directive — will have to take additional steps to make changes even if they have a consumer’s consent.
The changes are effective immediately, an unusually rapid move by the agency that may reflect the urgency of the problem. Republicans have alleged that enhanced subsidies backed by the Biden administration provide incentive for brokers or consumers to fraudulently misstate their incomes to qualify for ACA tax credits, while some Democrats have also been critical of CMS, saying the agency needs to take a tougher stand against rogue brokers who are switching people without their consent in order to gain commissions.
Consumers, meanwhile, can face higher out-of-pocket costs for medical services or unexpected tax bills if they get signed up for subsidized plans they’re not eligible for.
To show they have consumers’ consent for enrollment changes, CMS said, unassociated age …
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The Biden administration on Friday put in place stringent curbs aimed at thwarting rogue insurance brokers from switching consumers’ Affordable Care Act plans without their consent.
The announcement came in response to mounting complaints from consumers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Friday that, in the first six months of the year, more than 200,000 people reported to the agency that they were either enrolled in Obamacare plans or switched from one plan to another without their permission.
KFF Health News began reporting on Affordable Care Act enrollment schemes this spring.
CMS said insurance agents will be blocked from making changes to any Obamacare enrollments made through the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov, unless the agent is already “associated” with a consumer’s policy.
Additionally, agents who can’t prove an association — which is undefined in the agency directive — will have to take additional steps to make changes even if they have a consumer’s consent.
The changes are effective immediately, an unusually rapid move by the agency that may reflect the urgency of the problem. Republicans have alleged that enhanced subsidies backed by the Biden administration provide incentive for brokers or consumers to fraudulently misstate their incomes to qualify for ACA tax credits, while some Democrats have also been critical of CMS, saying the agency needs to take a tougher stand against rogue brokers who are switching people without their consent in order to gain commissions.
Consumers, meanwhile, can face higher out-of-pocket costs for medical services or unexpected tax bills if they get signed up for subsidized plans they’re not eligible for.
To show they have consumers’ consent for enrollment changes, CMS said, unassociated age …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]