Dive Brief:
- Federal officials are looking to resolve two of the most frequent complaints about health insurance under the Affordable Care Act: inaccurate provider directories and unexpected costs.
- The administration stated this week that insurers will now be required to update their provider directories at least once per month, and that there will be financial penalties for those who fail to comply.
- The administration also aims to offer an "out-of-pocket cost calculator" to help healthcare consumers compare and estimate their total annual cost for a health plan, rather than just the premiums. This would factor in subsidies, co-pays, deductibles, other out-of-pocket costs and personal health considerations.
Dive Insight:
These goals could go a long way toward providing more accuracy and transparency for the selection of health plans. However, insurers suggest they are only a piece of the puzzle.
America's Health Insurance Plans wrote a letter to the Obama administration that pointed at providers as partly to blame for outdated directories, saying they often "stop accepting particular health plans' members off and on throughout the year and fail to notify the plan in a timely manner," reported the New York Times.
As far as cost tools, federal officials hope to link Healthcare.gov to a cost calculator later this year, and several state exchanges are planning similar moves.
"We know that we have work to do to make it easier for consumers to find plans that meet their needs," CMS spokeswoman Lori Lodes told the New York Times.