Obama meets with exchange insurers ahead of open enrollment
President Barack Obama has asked for insurers to step up their efforts to enroll younger, healthier people on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges when open enrollment begins in November.
In both a letter and an in-person meeting, Obama said the ACA can still be improved, while emphasizing its positive effects in reducing the uninsured population to a record low.
“Since the remaining uninsured are disproportionately younger and healthier, signing them up improves the risk pool and consequently the affordability of coverage for all enrollees," Obama said in the letter, according to Reuters.
POLITICO reported the CEOs of 13 insurance companies were present at the Sept. 12 meeting at the White House, including the heads of Cigna and Humana, which are attempting to merge with other major insurers in deals which are being challenged in court by the U.S. Department of Justice.
A representative from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) was also present.
“As health plans are preparing for open enrollment, today’s meeting was focused on how to build on the continued progress in reducing the uninsured rate and moving forward with policy solutions that will support a stable, affordable market for 2017 and beyond,” AHIP spokeswoman Clare Krusing said to Reuters.
For more on what concerns insurers talked about in that White House meeting, click on the link below:
John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.