Goodwin vows quick approvals for new health plans

by Michael Biesecker, Associated Press, printed in Winston-Salem Journal, November 16, 2013.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Friday his agency will expedite review of 2014 health plans following President Barack Obama's announcement that companies can continue offering policies that don't meet minimum requirements under the Affordable Care Act.

Goodwin said his office has gotten scores of angry calls from some of the more than 473,000 state residents informed by insurers in recent weeks that their policies will be terminated at the end of the year. Customers are often not provided details about how their current policies fall short under the new law, which requires coverage for pre-existing conditions, hospitalization, prescription drugs, maternity care and six other basic benefits.

Goodwin said that like many consumers, he is frustrated by the shifting federal requirements. He says his staff will work with insurers to provide North Carolinians with as many options as possible.

"I'm calling on our health insurers to take advantage of this opportunity, and I've directed my staff to do what is necessary to make sure that insurers can allow their policyholders to keep their plan for another year," Goodwin said.

The commissioner said he didn't have details about how the canceled policies failed to meet the new federal requirements.

Following Obama's announcement Thursday, insurance companies and state regulators have been left scrambling to determine whether to reactivate the recently canceled policies.

People whose polices have been canceled can shop for replacement plans on the federal insurance marketplace, but its website has been so plagued by glitches that only 1,700 North Carolina residents have successfully signed up for new plans in the first month of open enrollment. North Carolina is one of 36 states to forgo creating their own state-run marketplace in favor of the Washington-designed exchange.

The N.C. Insurance Department says 21 insurers terminated individual and group health affecting 473,724 state residents. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina accounted for 151,640 of those cancellations, followed by 24,829 by Aetna and its subsidiary Coventry Health.

Blue Cross Blue Shield announced Friday it will file plans with the state insurance department to allow most of its individual customers whose polices were canceled to keep their current health plans for another year.

"We understand that many of our customers are frustrated and confused by difficulties accessing the federal exchange, and we want to do everything we can to help them maintain quality health coverage that they can afford," said Brad Wilson, the president and CEO of BCBSNC.

Wilson said it hopes to present its customers with renewal options by Dec. 1.

BCBS spokesman Lew Borman said that in general the plans at issue didn't meet all ACA requirements such as maternity benefits, and pediatric or dental coverage.

A spokesman for Aetna said insurers will need expedited approval from state regulators to make quick changes to policies following Obama's announcement.

"We support efforts to allow people to keep what they have," said Aetna's Walt Cherniak. "However, we will need cooperation and state regulators will need to allow us to update our policies and secure appropriate rates so we can get these plans back in the market."