Connector Embarks On Costly Obamacare Transition
As states buckle in to begin implementing the Affordable Care Act, Massachusetts has a conceptual head start on the rest of the country, but a top Bay State health care official says comporting state law to comply with Obamacare presents its own unique challenges.
"Retrofitting is hard. It's harder than building something brand new," said Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority Executive Director Jean Yang, who said the difficulty is compounded because the Connector will continue providing service during the transition. At a Thursday morning board meeting, Yang said, "We are doing in many ways the hardest thing, but none of this is new to us."
The tasks involved with the 2014 implementation include building a new information technology system to gauge eligibility and exchange data with the Internal Revenue Service, Medicare and Medicaid, and Homeland Security, according to a Connector presentation.
Since 2010, the Bay State has secured $270 million in grant funding to help implement the new federal program. "ACA transition is fully federally funded," Yang said.
The Connector describes its own budget as "heavily influenced" by the ACA, with one-time ACA-related costs described as the principal driver of an expense budget increase in fiscal 2013 from a projected $42 million to $55 million. Of the $55 million, $24.6 million is funded by federal grants.
About $78 million in one-time, federally funded costs are expected to drive up fiscal 2014 agency costs to $113 million.
With implementation now less than six months away, state officials discussed some of the benefits of the new law at a Connector board meeting. Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor noted that the 2006 state health care law also required a major transition.
"Just some talking points would be very useful," said board member Jonathan Gruber during a discussion of the benefits and challenges the law would create.
A Connector presentation noted the law will provide subsidies for a larger number of people, those who are up to 300 to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and it will increase access to dental coverage.
The transition in the state will also involve moving Connector members to MassHealth, which runs the state's Medicaid program.
Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided on the ACA, which passed amid consternation in 2010, and the Republican-controlled Congress has passed many bills to repeal it, though those efforts have not found traction in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Massachusetts lawmakers from both parties have directed Gov. Deval Patrick to seek an exemption from a portion of the law governing the ratings factors that can be used to determine small group and individual premiums, though Patrick has said the federal government does not have that authority.
The Obama administration recently announced it would delay for one year fines imposed on large employers that do not provide affordable insurance. Business groups say that would have little bearing on the insurance landscape in the state. In light of the announcement, Gov. Patrick said Thursday he would not veto a state budget provision on his desk repealing the state's "fair share" contributions on employers.
Read more
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments