The Connector Authority held a regulatory hearing yesterday on regulations governing Commonwealth Care. The draft regulations incorporated recommendations by Connector staff on the premium hardship waiver process, and updated plan type changes that resulted from FY 2009 managed care contract negotiations.
Melissa Boudreault, Director of Commonwealth Care and Jaime Katz, General Counsel of the Connector Authority presided over the hearing. About 40 people attended the hearing, including representatives from hospitals and health plans. The ACT!! Coalition presented two panels: one focused on network capacity, accessible affordable insurance, and comments on the hardship waiver procedure and criteria. The second panel focused on retroactive coverage, and the importance of having accountability and expedient administrative processing times under an individual mandate environment. The ACT!! testimony is here.
The Connector heard stories of individuals caught up in bureaucratic issues that resulted in their losing coverage they were entitled to. The Connector was urged to revise procedures to address gaps in coverage that result from errors or misinformation.
Andrew Cohen, from the Access Project testified on expanding hardship criteria to help individuals with medical debt. Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (download here), Mass League of Community Health Centers, and Health Law Advocates (download here) also submitted written testimony.
Diana Ong
