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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
WASHINGTON—The Department of Health and Human Services in June approved 39 one-year waivers—mostly for mini-med plan sponsors—from meeting a health care reform requirement that first restricts and ultimately eliminates annual dollar limits for essential benefits.
HHS said on Friday that through the end of June, 1,471 waivers had been approved for plans with about 3.2 million enrollees.
Federal regulators will stop accepting applications after Sept. 22 from sponsors of mini-med or other limited health benefit plans to receive waivers from the annual benefit limit requirement.
Wait for extension
In addition, plan sponsors that already have received waivers—including those whose waivers have not yet expired—will have until Sept. 22 to seek an extension.
However, waivers now will last through the end of 2013 as long as sponsors comply with certain requirements, including annually submitting information about their plans to the government and ensuring that enrollees understand the limits of the coverage. Previously, waivers were only for one year.
The waivers are needed because most, if not all, mini-med plans run afoul of federal rules that set a minimum annual dollar limit on essential benefits that health care plans must provide in 2011, 2012 and 2013 under the health care law. The minimum limit is $750,000 in 2011, $1.25 million in 2012 and $2 million in 2013.
Starting in 2014, the law bars annual limits for essential benefits. However, the minimum limits are greater than the maximum benefits provided through mini-med plans, which typically are offered to low-wage, part-time or seasonal employees.