For the millions of Pennsylvanians who don’t have employee benefits but do have individual plans, the cancelation notices and rate hikes are bound to continue without a major rejiggering of the health reform law.
Hoping it will enable more people to enroll for coverage among those who don’t already have employee benefits, the website for the nation’s largest state-based exchange is expected to receive an update in the coming days.
Were consumers able to go back in time, they would have preferred that the Affordable Care Act be passed with mutual support from Democrats and Republicans, rather than signed into law the way it turned out to be.
Renewing canceled policies may result in some unintended consequences for consumers in particular and the coverage market in general.
Sentiment among business owners was weak in October and much of entrepreneurs’ pessimism was tied to the political climate in Washington and the problem-plagued rollout of the health exchanges.
As of Nov. 10, only 49,100 individuals have enrolled in a private health plan through one of the 12 state-based exchanges that went live Oct. 1. That’s approximately 3 percent of the way to the number of enrollees the Congressional Budget Office predicted would sign up for coverage.
In another sign that the health insurance exchanges are far from being problem-free, there are some states where not a single individual has enrolled for coverage.
New numbers indicate that nearly 150,000 children in the Keystone State lack health insurance, whether due to their parents not having employee benefits or mom and dads not being eligible for financial assistance.
Many more health officials will be the target of further inquiry in the coming days regarding the flawed exchange rollout.
Though delaying the individual mandate may seem like the prudent thing to do given the wealth of problems plaguing the federal exchange, a postponement of any length could have unintended consequences that may hit consumers in the wallet.
