Administration Sends Mixed Signals On State Health Insurance Waivers
It was the Friday before a Monday deadline, and federal health officials in Washington, D.C. were working feverishly with their counterparts in Oklahoma to finalize the details of a new state reinsurance program.
Emails flew between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Washington and Oklahoma's Department of Health. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma, the only ACA insurer in the state, was on board. Everything had to be done by Monday, Sept. 25, so the insurance company could set new, presumably lower, health insurance rates for 2018.
Just before 6 pm on Friday, Sept. 22, CMS sent along a draft approval letter saying it expected an approval to be released the following Monday.
Instead, Sept. 25 brought more questions from the agency and more reassurances. "We don't necessarily see this from a CMS employee and provided to NPR by Oklahoma officials.
