CMS approves Oregon's 1332 waiver to bypass ACA's single risk pool rule

CMS greenlighted Oregon's section 1332 innovation waiver Oct. 19 aimed at shoring up its individual insurance market.

Here are four things to know.

1. The waiver is effective Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2022. Under the waiver, Oregon can evade the ACA's requirement for a single risk pool to implement its own reinsurance program. Reinsurance programs help stabilize premiums in the individual market by providing payment to health plans enrolling higher-cost members.

2. The government "determined that implementation of this reinsurance program will lower individual market premiums in the state and the premium tax credits to which Oregon residents would have been entitled absent the waiver," according to CMS Administrator Seema Verma.

3. The government will issue approximately $30 million annually to the Oregon Reinsurance Program, which was created during the 2017 legislative session, according to a Portland Business Journal report. 

4. CMS's go-ahead comes as several states saw their 1332 waivers rejected, including Oklahoma.

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