Insurers Face Tough Decisions on Whether to Extend Health Plans

New Jersey insurers weighing whether to extend health plans scheduled to expire next year face a tight timeframe and serious logistical hurdles in making those decisions. The insurers could face legal action from patients who would not receive protections guaranteed by plans that comply with the federal Affordable Care Act.

These were among the issues addressed during a legislative hearing held yesterday in Trenton on a recent state decision to allow insurers to decide whether to extend expiring health plans. Wardell Sanders, president and CEO of the New Jersey Association of Health Plans, said at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing that insurance carriers are still taking a “good, hard look” at whether it’s possible to continue to offer the expiring plans.

“For the carriers deciding this, there are enormous operational challenges,” Sanders added.

The dilemma facing insurers arose from the firestorm of criticism that President Obama received when people began receiving insurance-cancellation notices earlier this fall.

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