From Reuters:
By Alina Selyukh and Anna Yukhananov
WASHINGTON | Fri Aug 12, 2011 1:43pm EDT
(Reuters) – The government on Friday laid out incentives for states and people to participate in health insurance exchanges, including tax credits and funding grants for the states.
Health regulators also clarified how they expect states to determine who is eligible to join this program under President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul.
The exchanges are envisioned as open marketplaces of competing insurance plans that allow uninsured people and small businesses to band together to negotiate cheaper rates.
In the guidelines, released on Friday, the U.S. Health and Human Services and Treasury departments said states need to provide a “one-stop shop” system that can tell people what insurance programs and tax credits they’re eligible for — including federal/state Medicaid insurance program for the poor.
States, insurance companies, employers and patient groups have been awaiting these details because they are critical to establishing exchanges expected to be functional by 2014. (more…)
Filed under: Health Care Law Implementation, Understanding The New Law | Tagged: ACA, Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama, Families USA, funding grants, Health Care Reform, incentives, Kathleen Sebelius, medicaid, tax credits | Leave a Comment »
