Philadelphia Medicine Fall/Winter 2019 - 21

p h i l a m e d s o c .o rg

Freedom to Flourish

AFS students and their MedEx mentor Dr. Bethany Perry
simulate a procedure at Abington-Jefferson Hospital.

Abington Friends School is
training future leaders in medical
professions through our MedEx
college-preparatory program.
schedule, conduct marketing and outreach and directly address
consumer issues.

Jenkintown, PA

The state-based exchange would be developed so it matches
the infrastructure of the federal exchange, in order to reduce any
operational impact that the service may have to insurers or the
Department of Human Services.
Pennsylvania has had interest in implementing a state-based
exchange since 2012. A lack of information from HHS as well
as technological hurdles made the idea unfeasible. In 2015,
Pennsylvania was the first state to announce that it would create
a state-based exchange in response to a potential Supreme Court
ruling that would stop subsidies from being provided through
HealthCare.gov, however, the Supreme Court upheld subsidies
and Pennsylvania continued to use the federal exchange. The state's
interest in an SBE has been renewed as there are now existing
state-based health exchanges. As such, the state can implement
that existing information technology infrastructure rather than
develop their own, making the transitioning process faster and
more cost-effective.
While the SBE will not be fully implemented until enrollment
for the 2021 health insurance plan year, the market has entered a
transitory phase for the 2020 enrollment by operating as a state-based
exchange on the federal platform (SBE-FP), where the state takes
on more oversight of the exchange's functions while still utilizing
Healthcare.gov. Under this model, the user fee is reduced from
3% to 2.5%, however, similar to the full state-based exchange
model, the user fee would remain the same for enrollees. Savings
would go towards costs associated with the transition to an SBE.
Open enrollment for the 2020 health insurance plan year has
begun and runs until December 15, 2019. Plan coverage starts
January 1, 2020. For tips and other useful information for this
year's enrollment, visit https://www.healthcare.gov/. *

www.abingtonfriends.net

References:
https://www.healthcare.gov/
https://www.healthinsurance.org/
pennsylvania-state-health-insurance-exchange
https://www.insurance.pa.gov/Coverage/Documents/Health/StateBased%20Exchange/SBE%20FAQs.pdf
https://www.insurance.pa.gov/Documents/Press%20and%20Communications/Testimonies,%20Remarks,%20Speeches/2019/PID%20
Testimony%20Before%20the%20House%20Insurance%20Committee_5.7.19.pdf
https://www.insurance.pa.gov/Coverage/Pages/State-Based-Exchange.
aspx
https://www.legis.state.pa.us//cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.
cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20190&cosponId=29688
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Insurance-Details.aspx?newsid=389
https://www.inquirer.com/health/consumer/pa-state-based-exchangehealth-insurance-obamacare-20190702.html
https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/State-Innovation-Waivers/Section_1332_State_Innovation_Waivers-.html

Fall/Winter 2019 : Philadelphia Medicine 21

http://www.abingtonfriends.net http://www.HealthCare.gov http://www.Healthcare.gov https://www.healthcare.gov/

Philadelphia Medicine Fall/Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Philadelphia Medicine Fall/Winter 2019