A Federal rule finalized on March 28 modifies the requirements for Short Term Plans. These rules limit the length of time Short Term Plans can remain in place with effective dates after September 1, 2024. This impacts the sales and renewals of our Anthem Enhanced Choice (AEC) plans.
Selling new AEC plans
You can continue to sell our AEC plans until July 25, 2024. The last effective date for these new sales will be August 2, 2024. These plans offer coverage for one year only and cannot be renewed.
Renewing AEC plans
Clients currently enrolled in an AEC plan are not eligible for renewal.
The loss of Short-Term Plan coverage does not qualify the member for a special enrollment period (SEP) in the Individual market. This means that if a client’s AEC plan ends outside the annual Open Enrollment period and their AEC plan isn’t active through December 31, they could have a gap in coverage. To help your clients avoid coverage gaps, please encourage them to enroll in an Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant plan during this year’s Open Enrollment period.
If a gap in coverage is unavoidable, you can offer your clients whose Anthem AEC plan is ending the option of enrolling in an Anthem off-Marketplace plan using a paper application process only. This is an Anthem exclusive option to help prevent a gap in coverage and is available to impacted members within 60 days of their plan end date. However, as a reminder, clients who enroll in an off-Marketplace plan will not be eligible for financial help.
If a client is aging off Medicare
When a member who becomes eligible for Medicare ages off their AEC plan, their dependents may lose coverage. While these dependents will not be eligible to enroll in an AEC plan, they will qualify for a limited enrollment period to enroll in an Anthem off-Marketplace plan using a paper application process only. This will help prevent a gap in their coverage, but they will not qualify for financial help.
We will notify all members impacted by these changes by the end of May. If you have questions about the final Federal rule, how it impacts your clients, or how to help them stay covered, contact your Anthem representative.