[Vision2020] For uninsured in Idaho, exchange starts Tuesday

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (September 30, 2013) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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For uninsured in Idaho, exchange starts Tuesday
BOISE - Idaho's $70 million insurance exchange starts Tuesday, allowing about 200,000 people to enroll via its www.youridahohealth.org Internet site for federally subsidized insurance. That's a key component of President Barack Obama's health overhaul.
Don't expect an immediate marketing blitz, however: Television, radio, and newspaper ads, budgeted at $3.5 million, won't roll until late October, later than originally planned.
A skeptical Idaho Legislature approved the exchange in March, leaving too little time to get everything ready for this week's rollout.
Even now, exchange director Amy Dowd is completing negotiations with six organizations that will provide so-called "in-person assisters," trained to walk prospective enrollees through what for many could be uncharted territory: Figuring out which insurance policy to buy. A 10-employee call center to answer questions - before directing enrollees to an insurance agent or broker to complete the transaction - opened just last Wednesday.
"We don't have a set target we're expecting for enrollment," said Dowd, a health care consultant hired to run Idaho's exchange in April. "Our goals for our open enrollment period are to educate, get the word out that this is available."
Idaho's exchange was easily the 2013 Legislature most-disputed issue. Some conservatives blasted the vote, backed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, to join 16 other states in creating its own exchange, rather than defaulting to a federally-run model. They said it was bowing to what they called Obama's socialist vision.
Even as the Capitol drama unfolded, some 6,000 Idaho insurance agents feared they'd be barred from selling plans, a worry that didn't materialize: The exchange's 19-member board preserved a significant role for them, ensuring they can continue earning commissions. Meanwhile, in-person assisters, at about 150 locations throughout Idaho, will provide only technical advice to callers.
For instance, the Idaho Hospital Association director Steve Millard expects 200 employees at his lobbying group's 47 member hospitals who already work with uninsured patients on payment options to take the required 30-hour training session required to educate prospective enrollees about Idaho's exchange.
After the 30 minutes estimated for each call, however, Millard says they'll refer callers to brokers and agents to complete purchase of individual plans.
So far, seven insurance carriers will be offering 146 different health and dental plans for exchange participants who will get tax credits based on how much they earn, part of Obama's plan to make policies more affordable.
There have been hiccups: On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced small businesses - fewer than 50 employees - in Idaho and elsewhere can't apply online until Nov. 1, a month's delay.
Idaho's exchange hasn't come cheap.
So far, a $20.3 million federal grant has paid startup costs, like the upcoming marketing campaign run by Boise's Gallatin Public Affairs. Legal fees are running into the hundreds of thousands.
Another $50 million from DHHS is now on the horizon, for additional marketing, initial operation costs and building Idaho's own information technology system to collect enrollee's information - to replace the federal data hub the state has been forced to use, likely through at least Oct. 1, 2014, or risk missing important deadlines.
Stephen Weeg, chairman of Idaho's exchange board and a former Pocatello health care executive, concedes it's "a substantial chunk of change." Still, he insists, it's better to spend more to build a robust information technology system initially to avoid problems with future operations that could drive up costs.
"Sometimes, you can shortchange the front end, and pay for it in the back end," Weeg said. "We're going to be as frugal as possible."
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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still 
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill 
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
  
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