CEO DATELINE - Vermont to shut down association health plans in 2020
CEO DATELINE - Vermont to shut down association health plans in 2020
- June 14, 2019 |
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Walt Williams
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Vermont individuals with insurance coverage through association health plans will need to seek alternatives starting next year, the state's Department of Financial Regulation said Thursday.
The department announced in April that it was suspending new enrollment in AHPs after U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled that a Trump administration rule expanding use of the plans amounted to an unlawful end-run around the Affordable Care Act's coverage requirements. Now the agency says AHP enrollees must seek alternative insurance coverage starting next year, as it will not allow people to re-enroll in the plans.
The department cites the court decision for its reasoning. It noted that while the U.S. Department of Labor has appealed the ruling, it did not request a stay, meaning the decision remains in effect.
"The appeal's outcome is uncertain but is very unlikely to resolve before open enrollment for Plan Year 2020," Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, said in a statement. http://bit.ly/2RgSsJi
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2017 directing the U.S. Department of Labor to allow more businesses to join together through AHPs to avoid certain ACA coverage requirements and purchase employee health insurance at a lower cost. Democratic attorneys general in 11 states and the District of Columbia have sued the federal government to invalidate the Labor Department rule.
Two Vermont business groups—Business Resources Services and the Vermont Association of Chamber Executives—began offering AHPs this year and currently insure about 5,000 individuals, the news site VTDigger reported. A Chamber spokeswoman told the site that she was "hugely disappointed for the small businesses who are paying huge increases in health care costs for their employees." http://bit.ly/31xFTyd
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