AHA: Interstate health insurance sales unlikely to increase access

The AHA supports the administration’s goal of expanding access to coverage and increasing competition between health plans, but does not believe that efforts to facilitate the sale of insurance across state lines “will achieve either of those goals in a meaningful way,” the association said today, responding to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services request for input on how to enhance insurers’ ability to sell individual health insurance across state lines. “In previous comments to the administration, we have expressed our support for solutions to both lower the cost of coverage and provide greater choice among plans, including by supporting federal and state reinsurance programs, increasing outreach and enrollment assistance, and funding the cost-sharing reduction subsidies,” AHA wrote. “These approaches likely would result in greater choice among health plans while retaining vital consumer protections. Unfortunately, the sale of insurance across state lines will not achieve these goals.”