Keeping Your Plan Until 2017

On Wednesday, March 5th, the Obama Administration announced a 2 year extension to the policy that if your individual or small group plan was due to be cancelled in 2014 as a result of the essential health benefit benchmarks and other market reform requirements imposed by PPACA, you would be able to keep it, as long as your state insurance commissioner and the carriers in your state say it’s ok.

This policy only applies to existing policies.  All newly sold coverage will have to meet all of the market reform requirements and other benchmarks imposed by PPACA (or ACA or ObamaCare).

Here in Kentucky, when this was announced last November for the first extension, we were allowed to do so.  However, the state of Indiana didn’t allow it.  We are still waiting to hear from our carriers if this will be allowed a second time.

 This is a political move by the Democrats with the mid-term elections coming up.  Pricing for renewals will be coming out in July/August of this year, which probably won’t be favorable.  Plus, if last week’s Florida election was any indication, then it may be too little too late.