How the insurance industry handcuffs Obamacare

How the insurance industry handcuffs Obamacare

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When President Obama finally signed the law in March 2010, the Affordable Care Act did include a navigator program — but that hasn’t stopped insurance agents and brokers from fighting against it. Over the past three years, the groups have waged an intense but little-noticed lobbying effort to regulate navigators in the states, leading to the passage of 16 state laws over the past year and a half. Most of the laws contain language that closely resembles recommendations that agents and brokers have been pushing in statehouses nationwide — a push that’s received crucial aid from a legislators’ group focused on insurance policy that is supported with industry funds.

Backers of the laws say they provide needed oversight of navigators by establishing state authority and common-sense regulations. But consumer advocates and some health policy experts warn that the laws could shackle the navigator program, meaning fewer people would have access to help.
Roots of a controversy

When states and the federal government launch the new insurance marketplaces, or  “exchanges”, on October 1, one of their greatest challenges will be reaching the very people the marketplaces are meant to help. A June poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 55 percent of uninsured Americans had never heard of the exchanges. Even those who have might not understand how to use them to buy insurance.