The Iowa Insurance Commissioner is proposing what he calls a stopgap measure to ensure Iowans have access to health insurance in 2018, after all of the major providers of individual plans have pulled out or are considering pulling out. Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen says they hope this plan will give people access to an individual insurance plan in all 99 counties.
Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Aetna announced they would stop selling individual health insurance because of the high cost under the federal Affordable Care Act — and the final carrier — Medica says it is also considering pulling out. Ommen says that’s what’s driving the proposed stopgap.
The plan would take the money currently available under Obamacare and would offer and income-based tax credits for people to get insurance. He says it addresses the problem with the current system where young people are dropping out.
Ommen says they will be talking with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and hope to have some idea within the next 14 days or so if the stopgap will be approved.
