Manatt’s Joel Ario, a managing director with Manatt Health, spoke with NewsOK on Oklahoma’s withdrawn 1332 reinsurance waiver application. The waiver would have given the state permission to use $350 million in federal funds that would act as a backstop by paying a certain percentage of insurers’ bills for expensive patients, reducing premiums by about 30 percent.
Ario explained that Oklahoma’s situation could create uncertainty for other states pursuing reinsurance waivers, because Oklahoma’s request used “boilerplate” language that states like Alaska and Minnesota had successfully used in previous waivers.
“When you have this kind of boilerplate and you have an approval package (prepared), that does raise questions,” said Ario. He also mentioned that Oregon is pursuing a waiver, which could show whether the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is changing its approach to waivers.
Read the article here.