CMS Details 2018 Open Enrollment Period Procedures; Tax Court Rules APTC Must Be Repaid After Income Change

The open enrollment period for 2018 begins in a little over two months, and yet there remain a lot of unknowns about how it will proceed. In mid-July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a guidance stating that it would basically follow the procedures it followed in 2016 for the 2017 open enrollment period, with a few changes. On August 28, 2018, CMS released at its REGTAP.info website slides dated July 17, 2017, setting out in much greater detail the procedures it intends to follow for the 2018 open enrollment period. As during 2017, CMS will conduct two waves of batch auto-enrollments (BARs). The first wave will be sent to insurers between October 10 and 31. The first wave will newly include “alternate enrollments,” enrollments in which CMS or a state department of insurance selects an alternate plan for individuals whose 2017 insurer is no longer available for 2018. The second BAR wave, sent after December 16, will include special enrollment period enrollees who enrolled late in the year and active reenrollees who had begun an application but had not enrolled before being BARed. Individuals who are auto-enrolled will have until December 31 to indicate that they do not want coverage for 2018 and have their coverage terminated. Agents, brokers, and direct enrollment partners will be directed to the future year application when one exists to assist enrollees. Several new policies are in place for 2018. First, under the market stabilization rule, insure...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Source Type: blogs