Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney issued the following statement.
Health Insurance Policy Relief for Mississippians Granted by Federal Government
Jackson, MS – Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney announced today that in a landmark move impacting thousands of Mississippians, new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price said that HHS will grant transitional relief for insureds living in Mississippi and possibly 34 other states. This action stops a projected rate increase averaging 65 percent.
“I applaud Senator Roger Wicker, Senator Thad Cochran, and Congressman Greg Harper for the extensive work they have done in highlighting this important issue for Congress, the new Administration and Secretary Price,” Chaney said.
“This action by HHS will help bring stability to the health insurance market and keep rates affordable for small business and individuals in Mississippi.”
In 2013, HHS allowed individuals and small groups to maintain certain “Grandmothered” insurance plans also known as Transitional Plans. These are plans that were purchased after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act and before October 1, 2013, that were not required to comply with certain ACA reforms. Transitional relief was set to expire at the end of 2017.
Senators Wicker and Cochran, along with 21 of their colleagues sent a letter to Secretary Price requesting that HHS extend the current transitional relief policy indefinitely, which would give the states the opportunity to allow individuals and small groups to maintain their current health plans.
Commissioner Chaney has been working since early 2016 to seek the extension of the transitional relief policy for over 200,000 Mississippians. These individuals would have seen an average rate increase of more than 65 percent had the policy been allowed to expire on December 31, 2017. Without the extension, those Mississippians could have joined the ranks of the uninsured.
15 comments:
Chaney Rules!!!
HA!
You mean they are continuing OBAMACARE and people in Mississippi are going to clap?
Holy shit
RINOs circling the wagons to cover each other's arses now that they are exposed as big on talk and short on action.
2:53,
Holy Shit! You're really ignorant on this topic. Skip over to another subject that you can comprehend, perhaps you can wrap your hands around the Pizza Hut stories.
The press release was posted as received word for word.
When the Obamacare subsidies and employer tax credits end with the repeal most of Mississippi will not be able to afford health insurance at the present rates.
3:34
You understand what continuing current plans means right?
Here is a hint..that is not a synonym for "repeal."
Obamacare MS style....nice
Transitional relief allows individuals and small groups to continue their PRE-OBAMACARE plans. Without this relief folks will have to move to Obamacare plans.
It's quite obvious some of you knuckleheads did not bother to read the press release. RINO's indeed.
blue cross/ blue shield has a virtual monopoly on the sale of health insurance in mississippi. they control 90% of the market. state government cannot and will not do anything to rein them in and create competition to drive down rates. bs/bs has the entire legislature on its payroll. what do you expect? the feds cannot do anything about this monopoly since insurance companies were granted immunity from federal anti-trust laws back in the 50s. thats why each of the 50 states has a department of insurance. the mississippi state department of insurance is so weak it could not regulate a one car funeral, much less a politically connected, mega-billion doller corporation. WAKE UP YOU DUMBASSES. THIS IS THE BIGGEST EXAMPLE OF MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION IN THE NATION.
I didn't read it Kingfish....but I didn't comment either
Whatever. Wake me up when everyone is ready to discuss the real issue, which is that the cost of the service is too high and that market forces cannot keep costs in line with actual ability to pay. I refuse to engage in this game of hot potato anymore .
9:41 is exactly right and Obamacare seems to have strengthened BCBS's stranglehold in MS by removing competitors. BCBS has eliminated coverage for annual pap smears, now only paying for the test once every 3 years. They no longer pay for a simple and cheap blood test done at a 2-year old's normal pediatric checkup. It used to be covered as part of the Healthy You Wellness plan. Also, the drug co-pays have increased on many medications substantially, so the Dr visit co-pay is $25 but the co-pay for the Rx the Dr writes is $100, plus whatever portion of the deductible that applies. Is BCBS merely shifting the cost of treatment to the patient or is this part of a long term agenda to curb 'script writing and testing behavior of physicians?
9;41 is dead on. the ONLY thing that brings down the costs of premiums is competition. good old fashioned competition.
to 1:29pm....my ,my, arn't you articulate! all you beefy comments like "cost of service" and "market forces". why don't you explain the "real issue" to all of us cotton choppers here in mississippi so we can understand what you are talking about. until then ,ill stick with what 9:41 says.
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