Not All of the Federally Facilitated Marketplace’s Internal Controls Were Effective in Ensuring That Individuals Were Properly Determined Eligible for Qualified Health Plans and Insurance Affordability Programs
Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General, August 2015
Our objective was to determine whether the Federal marketplaceās internal controls were effective in ensuring that individuals were determined eligible for enrollment in QHPs (qualified health plans) and eligible for insurance affordability programs according to Federal requirements.
DEFICIENCIES RELATED TO VERIFYING APPLICANTSā ELIGIBILITY
Social Security Numbers Were Not Always Validated Through the Social Security Administration
Citizenship Was Not Always Verified Properly
Annual Household Income Was Not Always Verified Properly
Family Size Was Not Always Determined Correctly
DEFICIENCIES RELATED TO RESOLVING AND EXPIRING INCONSISTENCIES
Inconsistencies Related to Certain Eligibility Requirements Were Not Always Resolved Properly
Inconsistencies Related to Certain Eligibility Requirements Were Not Always Expired Properly
Applicant Data and Documentation Related to Resolving Inconsistencies Were Not Always Maintained Properly
https://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/region9/91401011.pdf
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Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Considering the administrative complexities of the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (insurance exchanges) established by the Affordable Care Act, these deficiencies in determining eligibility for the exchange health plans and for the premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions do not really demonstrate bureaucratic incompetence but rather would be expected based on the complex program design authorized by the legislation.
This was totally unnecessary. By design, in a single payer system everyone is eligible and automatically enrolled. There is no need for premium tax credits since there are no premiums. The program is funded through equitable taxes instead. There also is no need for cost-sharing reductions since there are no deductibles or coinsurance. It is a prepaid program.
Instead of reading the news reports and merely tisk-tisking the incompetence of the administration, we need to give more thought as to why the administrative boondoggles exist and redirect the blame to the fact that we are implementing a highly flawed model of health care financing. That should then lead us to advocating for a model that really does work well – a single payer national health program.