What Does New Auto-Enrollment Rule Mean for Obamacare Customers?
Marguerite Bowling
It’s more effort for consumers than should be needed, Haislmaier said:
What’s unfortunate is that had Obamacare not created this unnecessarily complicated subsidy design in the first place, taking steps to ‘streamline’ the process as HHS is doing now wouldn’t be necessary. … {A]ny of the simpler health care tax credit designs that Heritage and other conservatives have proposed over the years would also have subsidized coverage, but without creating all of these issues.
New analysis also indicates that Obamacare customers might not even go the auto-enrollment route for 2015.
Avalere Health LLC, a Washington-based advisory services company, found that many consumers in exchange plans who receive subsidies will face substantial premium increases unless they switch insurance plans in 2015.
“Most enrollees in 2014 chose a plan based on their monthly premium,” Elizabeth Carpenter, director at Avalere Health, said in the report. She added:
However, the lowest-cost plans in 2014 may no longer be low cost in 2015. Before consumers renew their 2014 plans, they should consider the trade-off between continuity of care and lower monthly premiums.
