The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a set of final rules on Affordable Insurance Exchanges.  This set of rules generated quite a lot of interest from stakeholders as more than 24,000 comments were submitted to HHS.  Some of the rules announced this week are in interim final status, meaning HHS will accept further comments on them, so we will likely be adding to that total. They will be published in the Federal Register on March 27.

The final rules combine policies from two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) published last summer. One rule, published on July 15, 2011, outlined a proposed framework to enable states to build Affordable Insurance Exchanges (Exchanges. A second NPRM, published on August 17, 2011, outlined proposed standards for eligibility for enrollment in qualified health plans through the Exchanges and insurance affordability programs, including premium tax credits.

So what do the final rules mean for uninsured children and families?

Well, they are more than 600 pages long so we are wading our way through as expeditiously as possible.  We hope to share our insights with you soon but in the meantime, here’s a fact sheet put together by HHS.  

And we hear that more final rules are coming soon, so stay tuned!