The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Aug. 15 that all plans on HealthCare.gov will be required to display quality star ratings during the 2020 open enrollment.
CMS said in a news release, the move builds on efforts by the Trump Administration to increase transparency and encourage informed coverage decisions.
Star ratings assess plans on a scale of one to five based on various quality measurements. For more information on star ratings, check out The Hertel Report’s toolbox.
Consumers will be able to compare coverage plans based on star ratings on exchange websites such as HealthCare.gov. According to CMS, the method parallels other “easy to understand” rating programs including the Nursing Home Compare site.
In a statement, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said,
For the first time, consumers will have access to meaningful, simple-to-use information to compare the quality, along with the price, of health plans on Exchange websites.
The agency settled on enacting the program nationally after a pilot run during 2017 and 2018 ACA open enrollment periods. Ratings were displayed for Virginia and Wisconsin before expanding the trial period in 2019 to Michigan, Montana and New Hampshire.
According to CMS, 84 percent of shoppers enrolled in plans with at least three stars or more.
For more information on the program, check out the CMS site and the information bulletin.
Also take a look at Fierce Healthcare’s article and Modern Healthcare for more.
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