Thread by @charles_gaba

📣 NBPP 2024 Part 2: Standardized Plans & Meaningful Differences (HUGE!!)
#NBPP2024 #ACA #GetCovered #StandardizedPlans #MeaningfulDifference #xp
acasignups.net/22/12/13/nbpp-…

Robin Williams starred in Moscow on the Hudson, in which he plays a Soviet-era Russian saxophone player who defects to the U.S. in New York City.

In one scene, he's overwhelmed by the bewildering number of coffee brands available at the grocery store.

I picture this scene whenever I think about the glut of "different" insurance policies available in some states via the #ACA exchanges. While too little choice is a real problem, so is *too many choices* when the enrollee can't make heads or tails of the differences between them.

.@CMSGov is proposing two ways of cutting down on the mountain of virtually-identical plans being offered:

1. Limit the total number of non-standard plans a carrier can offer to no more than 2 network types (HMO, PPO, EPO) per metal level (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum)

2.let carriers offer as many non-standard plans as they wish, but the deductibles have to be at least $1,000 apart from each other. I think this would effectively limit them to around 9 plans total, since the max out of pocket cap is $9,100/year per person anyway.

Both of these are pretty much what healthcare wonks like @bjdickmayhew have been pushing for years. Hopefully this will make the final cut.