5 biggest challenges for the PPACA exchanges in their second year

During the second open enrollment period for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act exchanges (which begins Nov. 15), federal officials seeking to get the remaining eligible uninsured population signed up for coverage will face the following five main challenges, Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation, writes in The Wall Street Journal.

1. Raising awareness about affordability. Many of the remaining uninsured believe they can't afford coverage and don't know they qualify for financial assistance in the form of premium subsidies, according to Mr. Altman. For instance, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey of uninsured in California found 73 percent of those eligible for financial assistance didn't realize it. "The message that most needs to reach the uninsured is that there are tax credits available to help make coverage more affordable," Mr. Altman writes.

2. Increasing knowledge of the higher penalty for not having insurance. Under the PPACA's individual mandate, the penalty for not having health insurance will rise in 2015 to $325 per person or 2 percent of annual household income (whichever is higher), up from $95 per person or 1 percent of household income this year. However, a March 2014 Kaiser Family Foundation Survey found 24 percent of the uninsured didn't think the PPACA requires nearly all Americans to have health insurance or pay a fine, and 10 percent didn't know or refused to answer.

3. Providing adequate personal assistance. During the first open enrollment period, personal assistance was crucial to getting uninsured people signed up for coverage. The remaining uninsured need even more help, as they have likely remained uninsured for a long period of time or never had insurance at all, according to Mr. Altman.

4. Combating the decline in information from the media. The public and the uninsured rely on the news media for information about the PPACA. "As the [PPACA] cools as a political issue, the falloff in coverage —including negative stories — may cause fewer uninsured people to want to check out their coverage options," Mr. Altman writes. "Other forms of marketing and outreach would need to compensate."

5. Handling more traffic as people who are already enrolled potentially shop for new plans. Although CMS has established an automatic renewal process, the roughly 7 million people who signed up for exchange plans last year could revisit the marketplace to review their options and ensure their plans are still the best fit for them. It isn't clear how many of the people who signed up for exchange plans during the first open enrollment period will come back to shop for new plans for 2015, Mr. Altman writes.

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