Posted on 05/12/2015 8:53:08 AM PDT by Incorrigible
Hawaii state insurance exchange to shut down
Hawaii Health Connector never achieved financial sustainability
May 11, 2015 | By Brian Eastwood
The Hawaii Health Connector will shut down operations on Sept. 30, InsuranceNewsNet reported.
The exchange site will cease new enrollment this week, discontinue its outreach programs at the end of May and transfer its technology assets to the state by Sept. 30, the article said. The exchange's 37,000 enrollees can re-enroll on the federal Healthcare.gov exchange for the 2016 plan year.
Hawaii Health Connector has faced financial problems from its inception. A report issued earlier this year found that the exchange would not be financially sustainable until 2022, FierceHealthPayer previously reported. Because the Affordable Care Act required state exchanges to be financially sustainable by 2015, the federal government deemed Hawaii's exchange non-compliant, INN said.
In addition, Hawaii Health Connector has failed to comply with the ACA mandate that state exchanges integrate with Medicaid's system for determining subsidies and tax credits. If the state cannot do this by November, it risks losing $1 billion in federal funding for Medicaid, according to INN.
After exchange Executive Director Jeff Kissel failed to obtain the state legislature's approval for $28 million in bonds or loans, he sought $5.4 million from the state to continue exchange operations, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The legislature gave Hawaii Health Connector only $2 million.
The current enrollment figure of 37,000 exceeds the exchange's goal of 27,260 enrollees by June 30, the Star-Advertiser reported. However, the exchange needs 70,000 enrollees to achieve financial sustainability, INN noted.
State officials told the Star-Advertiser that they will work to ensure that the transition to Healthcare.gov affects only individual plans and not the state's Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) exchange. That's because insurance plans that comply with the state's Prepaid Health Care Act, which requires employers to subsidize health insurance, are only sold on the SHOP exchange.
Hawaii would be the second state that set up an insurance exchange to move to the federal exchange. Oregon made the switch to Healthcare.gov in April 2014 after more than a year of technical issues. Vermont is mulling a switch to Healthcare.gov, as well.
It’s like a really slow train wreck. Too bad it won’t have the same effect on the law itself.
If the Supremes vote in accordance with the law and the Constitution, this adds Hawaii to the long list of states that will lose FedGov subsidies. Obamacare must die, and this will give us the chance to make it happen. All we need is for Chief Justice Roberts to do his job and then for the GOP elite to do their job. What could go wrong?
Or will Obama use his "home" state to pressure SCOTUS to rule for federal exchange subsidies despite the plain language and legislative history of the law?
-PJ
This is by design.
Single payer.
Hawaii. Deep Blue Marxist-supporting state. Doesn’t matter that Democrat policy fails them. They will still vote Marxist every time, and blame all Marxist failures on policies not being Marxist enough.
Bingo.
Oops.
States were really stupid to set up exchanges.
The Republicans will, without any doubt, pass a resolution to allow the subsidies. That will be after Obama makes an executive decree allowing them. Of course, that’s only if SCOTUS rules according to the constitution, which is doubtful.
Ho’omaika’i ‘ana Gruber.
Makes sense since 67% there are on the dole, retired and just not working.
The third working business and tourism support it all and adding a health care costs to their great society lottery has to close it down, makes total sense.
Hawaii already had a very low number of uninsured. They passed a law in 1974 requiring employers to provide coverage. Divide the huge costs of building the exchange into the relatively small number of uninsured and the cost per policy sold was approaching $20K. Literally a solution in search of a problem.
The plan is succeeding.
Bump
I thought Oregon’s plan was touted as one of the successes?
Hawaii’s 1974 law required employers to pay for part of the health insurance of employees who worked over 20 hours per week (no matter the number of employees). As a result, there were many people with 2 or more >20/hours per week jobs ... and no employer paid health insurance.
The people who came up with O-care only had to study Hawaii’s plan to see what would happen.
I’m not sure how they meshed Hawaii’s plan with the O-care plan which requires employers to provide health insurance to people who work over 30 hours per week (but only applies to 50 or more employees). Seems like that would be a mess to sort out.
“All we need is for Chief Justice Roberts to do his job...”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha...stop it please, you’re killin’ me! Hahahahahahaha, you forgot, we also need for Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden to join forces and stand up for good old common sense hahahaha, hehehehe and a Hank Hill chuckle.
This is the correct answer. The Supreme Court isn't going to take sides and the rest of the state exchanges will more than likely fail in the next five years. Once that occurs there will be a massive cry about how the uninsured can't be left out, how it was unfair that the exchanges closed, and so on and so on. The GOP will help the Libs construct some sort of funding and/or bills to create a single payer system.
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