Federal Government Tweaks ACA For State Health Exchanges

A policy change regarding the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the state run health exchanges was quietly announced last week by the Health and Human Services (HHS) department.

The problems with the federal health exchange at www.healthcare.gov have been well documented locally and nationally. However, consumers attempting to sign up for coverage on the state exchanges have experienced technical issues which have prevented enrollment through the state exchange.

Currently 17 states haves their own healthcare exchange. Particularly problematic have been the exchanges in Oregon, Massachusetts, Maryland and Hawaii. The change in policy may allow consumers who were unsuccessful at enrolling in the state exchange access the federal subsidies and tax credits retroactively.

Consumers must prove they attempted to enroll in the state exchange unsuccessfully and then purchased an ACA compliant policy for 2014. Federal subsidies for the cost of the insurance could then be applied for the current policy as well as retroactively should the consumer satisfy the income requirements.

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