Diane Rowland, Chair of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), announced that Lu Zawistowich was named the Commission’s Executive Director and that the first public MACPAC meeting will be convened in September. The Commission was authorized in the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization of 2009 (P.L. 111-3). Congress appropriated funding for MACPAC in the Affordable Care Act. MACPAC will advise Congress on Medicaid, CHIP, and health insurance exchange policies.
Dr. Zawistowich most recently served as the Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services. She previously worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as at the Maryland State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
On July 21, Democratic Rep. Lynn Woolsey introduced H.R. 5808 to amend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to include a public plan option. The Congressional Budget Office CBO issued a letter to House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Pete Stark noting that the bill would reduce the budget deficit by $53 billion over 10 years. The letter also states that the cost of insurance under a public plan option would be 5-7 percent lower on average.
Including a public plan option in health care reform legislation was a controversial issue that did not ultimately have traction in the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The House-passed health care reform bill included a public plan option. The rates under the Affordable Health Care for America Act would be negotiated and could not be less than Medicare rates, but not higher than the average rates of other health benefit plans. Rep. Woolsey’s legislation would set reimbursement rates under the public plan option as equal to Medicare plus 5 percent. Although the legislation has 128 co-sponsors, the House is unlikely to move the bill during this session of Congress.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners convened last week to develop a recommendation to HHS regarding the definition of medical loss ratio, which would serve determine the types of insurance spending that should count as medical spending. NAIC was charged with this role in the Affordable Care Act, which requires large group health insurance plans to spend 85 percent of premium dollars on clinical services and activities related to quality of care. The NAIC hopes to present a recommendation to HHS by mid to late August; although, its work could continue into September. Secretary Kathleen Sebelius must certify the Commissioners work. NAIC has also been tasked with developing standard insurance benefits and enrollment forms and regulations for the state-based exchanges.
