SEATTLE–Affordable Care Act implementation dominated the opening session of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) summer meeting.
NAIC President Jane Cline, the West Virginia insurance commissioner, said that the "work has not stopped" and that "there is no shortage of significant issues on our plates."
Cline said NAIC working groups have held more than 280 meetings on health system change implementation since Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, which includes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The PPACA has received more than 400 documents relating to Affordable Care implementation from interested parties, and the NAIC's conference call bill now stands at $80,000, Cline reported.
Many state insurance departments are constrained by budget cuts as a result of the economic crisis, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services should be coming to their aid with $1 million Affordable Care Act implementation grants, Cline said.
"Our challenge is enforcement," she said, adding that there needs to be an open and transparent process as "we all have a hand in the future of health care."