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Arkansas insurance leaders report $13.1 million premium reduction after user fee elimination; enrollment roughly flat
Summary
Arkansas Insurance Department officials told the Senate Public Health Committee that moving the state insurance marketplace into the insurance department and eliminating a 1.2% user fee reduced projected 2020 premiums by about $13.1 million and left enrollment largely stable while plan availability increased across all counties.
Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Alan Kerr told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that changes to administration of the state health insurance marketplace and the elimination of a prior user fee reduced projected 2020 premiums by roughly $13,100,000.
Kerr, joined by Ryan James of the insurance department, said carriers’ rate filings for plan year 2020 totaled about $1,050,000,000 in premiums and that removing the roughly 1.2% user fee the marketplace previously charged produced the net savings. “That not only means lower rates for policyholders,” Kerr said, “but because Arkansas Works policies are the same as the private marketplace, it results in cost savings on what DHS owes.”
Why it matters: Committee members pressed presenters on whether the change would affect access and the marketplace’s stability. James said all companies operating in Arkansas are offering plans in every county for plan year 2020, and that premium rates are uniform across the state’s seven regions. He described plan availability from Ambetter, Arkansas Blue Cross, QualChoice and QCA across all 75 counties.
Committee members also examined enrollment data. The department presented two snapshots: an internal effectuated-enrollment figure and a CMS week-7 plan-selection snapshot. James cautioned the committee that CMS plan selections are a provisional snapshot and not the department’s verified effectuated counts: “That’s the week 7 snapshot that CMS provides. It is not what we consider to be the effectuated enrollment,” he said. The presenters told members they had received carrier data late the previous week and were still verifying final effectuated numbers.
On staffing and navigator costs: Senators asked about spikes in navigator-related spending during August and September. Kerr said those spikes correlate with preparation for and the run of open enrollment, when more staff are trained and deployed. The department added that 10 people are licensed to serve as navigators in Arkansas, though vendor employment of all 10 depends on the vendor and call-volume needs.
Budget clarity: Kerr characterized the marketplace account as well-funded given current balances and a $500,000 annual budget cap. He said the account balance (excluding a federal technology fee) was in the millions and that, with reconciling items, the collected funds should support operations for multiple years.
What’s next: Department officials agreed to provide more granular effectuated-enrollment numbers and county breakdowns requested by committee members and to respond about auto-enrollment and income-band breakdowns. The committee did not take a formal vote on policy during the presentation; the session moved to other DHS rule reviews after questions concluded.
