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Some healthcare advocates see discrimination in the move, but Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana says it is not trying to keep people with HIV/AIDS from enrolling in one of its policies under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The state's largest carrier is rejecting checks from a federal program designed to help these patients pay for AIDS drugs and insurance premiums, and has begun notifying customers that their enrollment in its Obamacare plans will be discontinued.
Blocked:
Hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients are in danger of being thrown out of the
insurance plan they selected in a dispute over federal subsidies and the
interpretation of federal rules about preventing Obamacare fraud
'In no event will coverage be provided to any subscribers, as of March 1, 2014, unless the premiums are paid by the subscriber (or a relative) unless otherwise required by law,' Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana spokesman John Maginnis told Reuters.
The dispute goes back to a series of statements from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the lead Obamacare agency.
In September, CMS informed insurers that Ryan White funds 'may be used to cover the cost of private health insurance premiums, deductibles, and co-payments' for Obamacare plans.
In November, however, it warned 'hospitals, other healthcare providers, and other commercial entities' that it has 'significant concerns' about their supporting premium payments and helping Obamacare consumers pay deductibles and other costs, citing the risk of fraud.
The insurers told healthcare advocates that the November guidance requires them to reject payments from the Ryan White program in order to combat fraud, said Robert Greenwald, managing director of the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, a position Louisiana Blue still maintains.
Sick:
Hundreds of indigent HIV/AIDS patients are dependent on Ryan White
payments for Obamacare because they are not eligible for Medicaid and
Obamacare federal subsidies don't kick in until people are at 100 per
cent of the federal poverty level
'As an anti-fraud measure, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has implemented a policy, across our individual health insurance market, of not accepting premium payments from any third parties who are not related' to the subscriber, Maginnis said.
On Friday, CMS spokeswoman Tasha Bradley told Reuters that, to the contrary, Ryan White grantees 'may use funds to pay for premiums on behalf of eligible enrollees in Marketplace plans, when it is cost-effective for the Ryan White program,' meaning that having people with HIV/AIDS enroll in insurance under Obamacare could save the government money.
'The third-party payer guidance CMS released (in November) does not apply to' Ryan White programs.
Maginnis did not respond to further requests, sent after business hours, for comment on CMS's Friday statement.
Hundreds of indigent HIV/AIDS patients are dependent on Ryan White payments for Obamacare because they fall into a gap.
They are not eligible for Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor, because Louisiana did not expand the low-income program, and Obamacare federal subsidies don't kick in until people are at 100 percent of the federal poverty level.
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