Recent health tracking poll finds negative public mood regarding health reform law

I think the following Poll – conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation – resulted in some interesting opinions on the healthcare reform. The October poll is the latest in a series designed and analyzed by the Foundation’s public opinion research team.

-- Ted Blotsky, Senior Vice President,
Employee Benefit Services

The October health tracking poll finds a more negative overall public mood about the health reform law, driven largely by changes in support for the law among Democrats.  The poll also asked the public’s impressions of the Massachusetts health reform law enacted under then- Gov. Mitt Romney, who is now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.   Findings from the poll include:

After remaining roughly evenly split for most of the last year and a half, this month’s tracking poll found more of the public expressing negative views towards the law. In October, about half (51%) say they have an unfavorable view of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), while 34 percent have a favorable view, a low point in Kaiser polls since the law was passed.

While Democrats continue to be substantially more supportive of the law than Independents or Republicans, the change in favorability this month was driven by waning enthusiasm for the law among Democrats, among whom the share with a favorable view dropped from nearly two-thirds in September to just over half (52%) in October.

Health MATTERS:
First numbers are in on federal plan, but full impact is not yet known

by Ted Blotsky, Senior Vice President,
Employee Benefit Services

The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, one of the early, big steps in the Affordable Care Act, went into effect July 1^st, and state-run and federally-managed programs alike began accepting applications. To be eligible an applicant must have been uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing condition.

Through August 9^th,2010, about 2,400 people had applied for coverage through the federally-managed program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The federally-managed program is in effect in the 22 states that have declined to operate their own program.  Of the 2,400 applications to the federal plan, 750 had been approved, and about 140 people were enrolled and getting coverage.

The 22 states under the federal plan cited cost of administration as the main concern when declining to operate their own plans.

Washington State had a high-risk insurance plan in place before the federal law went into effect. Known as “the Washington Health Insurance Pool,” it has 3,600 people enrolled with an annual cost of $71million and is available only to people who have applied for individual insurance and have been rejected by health insurers.

Effective July 1^st, Washington began receiving $102 million, which will be doled out over three years, for the high-risk program. In all, the National Health Care Reform included $5 billion to be allocated to states for high-risk pool applicants to be used before new regulations go into effect in 2014. To be eligible, an applicant must have been uninsured for at least six months and have a pre-existing condition.

These pools are a temporary fix designed only to last until 2014, when new regulations will go into effect requiring insurance companies to accept all applicants, regardless of pre-existing conditions.

The 2,400 enrollees-to-date figure cited above does not include state-operated plans, such as those in Washington State and 37 other states. With state data unavailable at this time, we don’t know the full extent to which uninsured people are taking advantage of the plan. Concerns still exist that the $5 billion allocated will be spent long before the regulations go into effect. This is something we’ll be monitoring closely in the coming months.

Health MATTERS:
High-risk pools set to begin, but funding, fairness questions remain

by Ted Blotsky, Senior Vice President,
Employee Benefit Services

This month, the high-risk insurance pools called for by the new healthcare reform law will be established, and the first $5 billion allocated under the law will start to be released.

The high-risk insurance pool is designed to provide healthcare coverage for high-risk patients who otherwise might not be eligible for insurance benefits.

High-risk pools already exist in 35 states—Washington State is among them—but the programs are underfunded and only cover about 200,000 people nationwide. The high-risk pool option will be available to people in every state.

These pools are a temporary fix designed only to last until 2014, when new regulations will go into effect requiring insurance companies to accept all applicants, regardless of pre-existing conditions.

States had to let the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary know by April 30whether they would run the pools themselves at state level or opt to let the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administer the pool.  Washington State elected to handle the pool itself.  Eighteen states declined to administer the risk pools, citing cost of administration as the main concern. The federal government will establish pools in those states, with money allocated based on population size and a few other factors.

The main concern about these pools is that the $5 billion allocated will be spent long before the new regulations go into effect in 2014. The chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has predicted that the new program will run out of money as early as next year. In coming years, state officials could be forced to reduce health coverage, raise premiums or ask state taxpayers to pay for these high-risk pools once federal funds run dry. We’ll be monitoring this issue closely.