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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 21 issued a massive 324-page notice of proposed rulemaking aimed at improving the consumer experience in the health insurance marketplace by increasing pricing and plan transparency and making information more accessible to consumers, among other changes.
Included in the proposed rulemaking are new requirements that some benefit insiders feel create unfair hurdles for brokers and agents, while clearing the road for navigators and assisters to enroll individuals and small businesses in the marketplaces.
Key among the controversial proposals is the requirement that all exchanges, qualified health plan insurers, and Web-based brokers and agents provide telephonic interpreter services in at least 150 languages. That requirement does not extend to navigators and assisters, although HHS is asking for public comment on whether it should.
“Requiring insurance agents and brokers to provide interpretation services for 150 languages would be an enormous financial burden and compromise our ability to serve our consumers,” says Health Agents for America Inc. President and CEO Ronnell Nolan, noting that agents and brokers already have extensive experience serving diverse communities.
“Forcing this mandate on agents and brokers, and not on navigators or assisters, would put us at a huge disadvantage at the very time that the administration is trying to meet ambitious enrollment goals,” she says.
In comments to a story running yesterday announcing the HHS proposed rulemaking, an EBA reader agrees, saying "It's very clear that the Obama Administration is set on driving brokers out of the business. How many web-based brokers are going to be able to provide translation services for 150 languages? Why on earth should we need that in the first place?"
HHS has indicated its willingness to consider delaying this requirement beyond 2016 and Nolan says she “would encourage them to do so in order to further study the need for, and potential unintended consequences of, such a mandate.”
The proposed rule also clarifies that all non-navigator assisters are required to maintain a physical presence in their service areas, but can provide assistance by telephone, Internet, or by other remote means.
Nolan questions the relevance of such a rule, saying, “Agents and brokers are state licensed and routinely serve the needs of clients who may be hundreds of miles from their home office. This is a solution in search of a problem, and like other provisions in the rule, would hamper the ability of agents and brokers to be a part of the solution to enrolling more Americans, which should be the goal of the administration, HHS and all stakeholders.”
“The continued unfair advantages given to federally funded navigators and assisters over agents and brokers needs to be called into question,” she adds.
Proposed ACA changes could offer navigators unfair advantage over brokers - Insurance Broadcasting
Included in the proposed rulemaking are new requirements that some benefit insiders feel create unfair hurdles for brokers and agents, while clearing the road for navigators and assisters to enroll individuals and small businesses in the marketplaces.
Key among the controversial proposals is the requirement that all exchanges, qualified health plan insurers, and Web-based brokers and agents provide telephonic interpreter services in at least 150 languages. That requirement does not extend to navigators and assisters, although HHS is asking for public comment on whether it should.
“Requiring insurance agents and brokers to provide interpretation services for 150 languages would be an enormous financial burden and compromise our ability to serve our consumers,” says Health Agents for America Inc. President and CEO Ronnell Nolan, noting that agents and brokers already have extensive experience serving diverse communities.
“Forcing this mandate on agents and brokers, and not on navigators or assisters, would put us at a huge disadvantage at the very time that the administration is trying to meet ambitious enrollment goals,” she says.
In comments to a story running yesterday announcing the HHS proposed rulemaking, an EBA reader agrees, saying "It's very clear that the Obama Administration is set on driving brokers out of the business. How many web-based brokers are going to be able to provide translation services for 150 languages? Why on earth should we need that in the first place?"
HHS has indicated its willingness to consider delaying this requirement beyond 2016 and Nolan says she “would encourage them to do so in order to further study the need for, and potential unintended consequences of, such a mandate.”
The proposed rule also clarifies that all non-navigator assisters are required to maintain a physical presence in their service areas, but can provide assistance by telephone, Internet, or by other remote means.
Nolan questions the relevance of such a rule, saying, “Agents and brokers are state licensed and routinely serve the needs of clients who may be hundreds of miles from their home office. This is a solution in search of a problem, and like other provisions in the rule, would hamper the ability of agents and brokers to be a part of the solution to enrolling more Americans, which should be the goal of the administration, HHS and all stakeholders.”
“The continued unfair advantages given to federally funded navigators and assisters over agents and brokers needs to be called into question,” she adds.
Proposed ACA changes could offer navigators unfair advantage over brokers - Insurance Broadcasting
