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Home Affordable Care Act Maine Implements a Statewide Health Exchange

Maine Implements a Statewide Health Exchange

2 minute read
by Robert Sheen

2 minute read:

Maine will become the next state to administer its own statewide health exchange. The state will however, continue to operate on the federal healthcare.gov website platform.

The move aims to boost health exchange enrollment within the state. Maine’s enrollment through the federal exchange has dropped for the last four years consecutively, from 84,000 in 2016 to 71,000 in 2019, according to a post by Modern Healthcare.

According to CMS, statewide health exchanges historically lead to higher enrollment participation. A post by The Times Record reinforces this sentiment, citing “enrollment fell 2.6% in 2019 among the 39 states that use federally run marketplaces, but among the 12 states that entirely run their own, enrollment increased nearly 1%.”

Maine’s Governor Janet Mills stated in a letter of intent to CMS that the state will handle all outreach efforts for the statewide marketplace. The state could gain upwards of $2 million in federal dollars for their outreach efforts, cites a post by The Times Record. “By pursuing a state-based marketplace, we will be putting ourselves — not the federal government — in the driver’s seat when it comes to helping consumers and small employers understand their options for affordable coverage,” Mills said.

Maine’s statewide health exchange will go into effect in the fall of 2021. The state will still be operating under the federal healthcare.gov platform. The state is considering switching to a state run platform for future years.

Maine joins a total of 17 other states including California and New Jersey in administering a statewide health exchange platform. Twelve of these states operate on their own statewide health exchange website platform and the remaining five , like Maine, are operating on the federal healthcare.gov website platform. The move demonstrates overarching support for the Affordable Care Act and the services it’s provided for Americans.

In addition to recent polls demonstrating public opinion in favor of the ACA, states are taking it upon themselves to bolster the ACA through initiatives like statewide health exchanges, individual mandates, and the expansion of Medicaid.

Everyone has a part to play in the support of the ACA and for organizations that means complying with the Employer Mandate.

Under the ACA’s Employer Mandate, Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) (organizations with 50 or more full-time employees and full-time equivalent employees) are required to offer Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) to at least 95% of their full-time workforce (and their dependents) whereby such coverage meets Minimum Value (MV) and is Affordable for the employee or be subject to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 4980H penalties.

Currently the IRS is issuing Letter 226J penalty notices to employers identified as having failed to comply with the ACA’s Employer Mandate for the 2017 tax year. If you’ve received a penalty notice and don’t know how to reply, this guide can help.

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Maine Implements a Statewide Health Exchange
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Maine Implements a Statewide Health Exchange
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Maine is next to operate and administer its own statewide health exchange.
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The ACA Times
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