Tennessee Health Insurance Exchange (Marketplace)

Thanks to the new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, individuals and small-business owners in Tennessee will be able to purchase health insurance in a new health insurance "marketplace," called an Exchange. Click here to learn the basics of an Exchange and to find out the options our state has while setting it up.

Tennessee's Exchange (Health Insurance Marketplace) in the News: This issue will impact all Tennessean, whether you work for either a small or large employer. It will have financial benefits for small employers (less than 50 full-time equivalent employees) and requirements for large employers with more than 50 employees. To follow this in the news just click on our Daily News EXTRA icom or click here.click here.

Insurance Exchange Guiding Principles

These Guiding Principles, developed by the League of Women Voters in Tennessee, are meant to inform our policy makers and the general public about the fundramental protections the exchange must meet in order to best serve the people of Tennessee. Many non-profit organizations and small businesses are working together to do what is best for Tennesseans and its small businesses who will be shopping within the exchange. See who has signed the principles.

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More info about the Exchange: (headers are links)

• Navigators Need Not Be Licensed as Insurance Brokers or Agents: The Affordable Care Act requires state exchanges to establish a “navigator” program (Section 1311(i)) that will help people who are eligible to purchase coverage through the exchange learn about their new coverage options and enroll. States will award grants to entities that will provide these services. In some state capitals, a debate is waging about whether insurance brokers and agents perform all of the same functions as navigators and whether navigators should thus be required to be licensed as brokers and agents. This paper explains that navigators are different from brokers and agents.
• Medical Loss Ratio - Brokers and Agents - March 16, 2011
  Senator Rochefeller urges insurance commissioners to preserve the strong consumer protections in the health care reform law. “Agents and brokers play a role in helping American consumers and businesses purchase health insurance,” Rockefeller said. “But I won’t support a proposal that allows those same agents, brokers, and health insurance companies to pocket $1 billion in benefits that should instead be going to the benefit of American consumers as part of the health care reform law we approved last year.” Click here to read the letter.
• How the Affordable Care Act will impact Shelby County - 74,000 individuals would get coverage and 3,400 new jobs will be created. Read the report for more details.
• How the Affordable Care Act will help states solve their budget shortfalls - December 2010, Urban Institute.
• Governance Issues for Health Insurance Exchanges - National Academy of Social Insurance, January 2011
• Designing an Exchange: A Toolkit for State Policymakers - National Academy of Social Insurance, January 2011
• Exchange subsidies for premiums - How the sliding scale will work.
• Implementation Timeline for Policymakers for Exchanges - Health Benefit Exchanges: An Implementation Timeline for State Policymakers by Patrick Holland and Jon Kingsdale, State Coverage Initiatives by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Building an Effective Exchange - Benchmarks - Families USA
• State of Tennessee Health Insurance Exchange Webpage - The state has done a good job in keeping us informed of its activities and efforts. This is worth a look.
• Colorado's Roadmap to Health Reform - Planning & framework document
• Letter from Secretary Sebelius on Guidance - 11/18/2010
• Initial Guidance to States on Exchanges - 11/18/2010
• States Should Structure Insurance Exchanges to Minimize Adverse Selection - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 8/07/2010
• NAIC task for Exchance 4/20/2010
• Alliance for Health Reform - All you need to know about Exchanges
• Five Standards to the New York State Insurance Exchange - Health Care for All New York
• Some Lessons from Massachusetts Health Reform Experience - Health Care for All

Resources:

Timeline - This is an interactive time line that you can cruise through to see how implementation will unfold, paying attention to what’s relevant to the Exchange.

Exchanges: Top Ten Priorities for Consumer Advocates

Exchanges: New Coverage Options

Enrollment Provisions in ACA

Small Employers in TN:

Fact Sheet for TN Small Employers

Additional Materials:

Center on Budget and Policy Priorties' States Should Structure Insurance Exchanges to Minimize Adverse Selection

Center for Children and Families' Health Insurance Exchanges: New Coverage Options for Children and Families

Community Catalyst's Considerations for Implementing an Exchange.

Families USA's Implementing Exchanges: A Guide to State Activities and Choices.

Exchange Archives: Click here.