Maine launches its own health insurance marketplace
Courtesy / ResourcingEdge.com
Maine is launching a state-run health insurance marketplace, replacing the federal one in place since 2014.
The state of Maine is launching its own health insurance marketplace to replace the federal government website used to purchase private insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Individuals and families will be able to use the marketplace beginning Nov. 1.
Maine will join 15 other states — including every New England state but New Hampshire — that currently operate independent online portals for insurance shopping. Maine consumers will be able to access the coverme.gov website to compare coverage and buy insurance rather than using the healthcare.gov website in place since 2014.
The operation of Maine’s marketplace is funded by a fee charged to health insurance companies that use the platform to sell their plans. The marketplace was recently approved by the federal government, which also approved state marketplaces in Kentucky and New Mexico on Monday.
“Federal approval means Maine can capture funding currently going to Washington, D.C., and use it to customize the enrollment process to fit our state’s needs,” said Jeanne Lambrew, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, in a news release. “The coverme.gov marketplace will give Maine people better access to affordable health insurance options.”
Since additional financial assistance was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act earlier this year, nearly 25% of consumers in Maine enrolled in a marketplace plan in 2021 with a monthly premium of $10 or less.
About 55,000 people in Maine buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, down from about 70,000 in 2019. Enrollment dropped as Maine expanded MaineCare to cover about 85,000 people under that program.
“We think that by being in control of the entire process, from outreach to enrollment, Maine is taking an important step in providing consistency and certainty for the citizens of Maine who rely on the insurance they obtain through the Marketplace,” said Kimberly Vance, president of the Maine Association of Health Underwriters, the leading trade organization in the state representing health insurance brokers and agents.
Ann Woloson, executive director of an advocacy group, Consumers for Affordable Health Care, said, “This Federal approval is welcome news for consumers in Maine, who will have access to new tools built specifically to help them choose the plan that best fits their needs and budget."
The coverme.gov website has been live since 2019, but only as an informational tool for Mainers to explore affordable health insurance options. Maine took the first step in the transition to a state-based marketplace last year by launching a hybrid federal-state marketplace.
That hybrid marketplace allowed the state to assume greater responsibility for some functions, such as marketing, outreach and consumer assistance, while continuing to use the federal healthcare.gov platform to process applications, determine eligibility, and enroll participants.
This fall, the state plans to launch a marketing campaign to raise awareness of the transition and Maine consumers’ options for coverage through the state-based marketplace.
As in previous years, those who already have a marketplace plan will be automatically re-enrolled in their current plan or the most similar offering from their health insurance carrier. Consumers will receive information this month about the re-enrollment process directly from coverme.gov
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