Managers of the public exchanges run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are trying to cut down on use of traditional mail. HHS wants to keep consumers and their assisters, including agents and brokers, from reporting changes that might affect the consumers’ eligibility for health benefits programs through the mail.
Consumers and their helpers would have to report any changes that could affect eligibility through the Web, through calls to telephone call centers, or through in-person interactions with “navigators, certified application counselors and other in-person assistance personnel.”
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Medicaid enrollees would still be able to report changes through mailed correspondence. Officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an arm of HHS, included the proposed change in the new draft regulations that could set up an auto-reenrollment system for the HHS-run public exchanges. CMS is preparing to publish the draft regulations in the Federal Register on Tuesday.