Addressing the Problem of Health Plan Drops Due to Non-Payment


Health Insurance Cancellation

Re-introducing the 12-month Continuous Enrollment Solution

Every year under the ACA people are left without coverage due to accidental plan drops due to non-payment outside of open enrollment. In a recent article we proposed a 12-month continuous enrollment solution (annual opt-out only contracts that make accidental plan drops impossible). Another simpler solution involves at the very least offering 1 , 3, 6, and 12 month contracts. Ideally, we get both, but either one would make a big difference to many families.

A little “churn” (a clever term that describes being displaced from one’s health plan for any reason) might not seem like a big deal, but if you have ever had your plan dropped mid-year due to a billing mistake, and thus been left without coverage while owing the fee, then you know it is big. Just read this story and tell me it doesn’t pull at your heart string a bit “Non-payment” Cancellation — an HONEST Mistake – Story.

Churn hits families who don’t have access to Medicaid the hardest (as Medicaid / CHIP is offered 365 days a year, but private insurance isn’t). These are the families that will owe bigger fees, risk bigger dollars on hospital bill collections, and who often had the money in the bank to pay the insurer in the first place.

The ACA’s new consumer protections guard against rescission for most other reasons other than non-payment, it is time for America to take the next step.

We need to end the ability of insurers to drop unsuspecting customers who are then left without coverage due to new open enrollment rules.

Share your plan drop stories below, or see our detailed Health Insurance Cancellation Reform page where we fully explain the problem and our proposed solution.

Author: Thomas DeMichele

Thomas DeMichele is the head writer and founder of ObamaCareFacts.com, FactsOnMedicare.com, and other websites. He has been in the health insurance and healthcare information field since 2012. ObamaCareFacts.com is a...

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My plan was dropped for ‘non-payment’ because I sent the payments to the same address I had for the last 3 years, only to find out too late that I was supposed to send them to a different (new) address. The checks were cashed but then re-deposited into my checking account 3 months later, when they said they discovered that I had a different plan ever since my wife started Medicare. Of course, my account was cancelled for non-payment, leaving me without insurance or any option for coverage until the next enrollment period. There needs to be more than one enrollment period during the year – especially NOT during the most expensive & busiest time of the year (November – December).

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I was cancelled for “non-payment” this past May when all of a sudden my tax credit was dropped and my premium went up to over $600/month. They had requested “more information” for about a month prior, I sent them everything I had, but apparently “they” were not satisfied. My 88 y/o father was dying, I was on his caregiving team, and I just didn’t have the wherewithal to call and deal with this, with everything that was going on.

I have several overlapping chronic conditions, and losing my health coverage put me at extreme risk. I also wasn’t able to get a new plan since it was outside of the enrollment period.

When I was signing up for the tax credit, the form said not to worry if you didn’t have supporting documentation, that it could be provided later. But nothing I sent made “them” happy until I had already been cancelled for “non-payment”. My premium went from $96 to $600 per month. Who CAN pay that??

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