Deltek Analyst Amanda White reports.
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded roughly $220 million in health insurance exchange funding to 13 states: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Vermont. These grants will be used to further state efforts in establishing the one-stop insurance shops. The department also released a series of answers to frequently asked questions states should be aware of when setting up these novel systems. The document covers topics such as what type of funding will be available to assist states in establishing the exchanges under the varying options (state, partnership, or federally-run), costs of the exchange, eligibility determination, risk adjustment, data collection, quality certification requirements, and much more.
According to the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS), today’s award brings the number of states making significant progress in creating the exchanges to 29. Moreover, in response to the stringent timelines and state legislative sessions, HHS announced a six-month extension of the Level 1 Establishment Grant. Applications will now be due on June 29, 2012, instead of December 30, 2011. Here’s a quick run-down of today’s awards:
- Alabama: $8,592,139 awarded to the Alabama Department of Insurance to support core staff, contracts and activities around early implementation of the Alabama Health Insurance Exchange.
- Arizona: $29,877,427 awarded to the Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery to meet requirements for exchange certification in 2013 and ensure that the Arizona Health Insurance Exchange will be operational by January 1, 2014.
- Delaware: $3,400,096 awarded to the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services to develop a rules-based eligibility engine that will serve as a single, streamlined eligibility process for all medical assistance programs.
- Hawaii: $14,440,144 awarded to the Department of Insurance, Office of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to establish the Hawaii Health Connector.
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