Manatt Professional Discusses Deadlines for EHB Plans
"Wisconsin to HHS: Give States More Guidance on EHB Before
Stepping In"
Inside Health Reform
October 1, 2012 - Manatt's Ian Spatz, a senior advisor in the firm's Healthcare Practice, discussed with Inside Health Reform the deadlines for states to set up essential health benefits (EHB) plans.
Inside Health Reform reports that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a guidance in February that it anticipated states' selection of their EHB benchmark plans would need to take place in the third quarter of 2012, but HHS recently signaled that the October 1, 2012, deadline is not set in stone. HHS was still gathering information related to the EHB packages and said a rule would be out as soon as it was ready. The health reform law gives HHS authority to make EHB decisions for states that don't adopt their own policies. A majority of states, including Wisconsin, are still studying their options as they await formal rules.
Spatz said that most states likely view the November 16 deadline to submit an exchange blueprint to HHS as the hard date to provide information on their EHB plan, which is the set of minimum benefits that must be covered by health plans operating in the small group and individual markets beginning in 2014.