Public comment sought for state insurance waiver
November 3, 2017
The Idaho Department of Insurance intends to apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and to the United States Department of the Treasury for a Section 1332 State Innovation waiver on or about January 5, 2018.

The purpose of the waiver is to extend eligibility for help in paying monthly health insurance premiums through Advance Premium Tax Credits (APTC) to working U.S. citizens who file federal income tax returns with income below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

The proposed effective date for the waiver is January 1, 2019.

Currently, thousands of Idaho residents have incomes of under 100% FPL and are without health coverage. Due to the requirement to have income of at least 100% FPL in order to qualify for APTC, these Idahoans do not have access to affordable health insurance.

While these working U.S. citizens are ineligible for APTC, lawfully-present non-citizens falling into the same income range are eligible for and receive APTC. This Section 1332 waiver application, if approved, would provide working Idahoans with income below 100% FPL who are U.S. citizens access to APTC similar to lawfully-present non-citizens.

The Department’s comprehensive public notice, tribal notice and the draft waiver application are available on our website at https://doi.idaho.gov/publicinformation/PublicComments.

The Department is seeking public comment through public hearings, the interactive form available on the website, email or traditional mail as indicated below.

Interested parties may also request hard copies of the waiver packet or submit comments via email or traditional USPS mail to:
Attention: Weston Trexler
Product Review Bureau Chief
Department of Insurance
P.O. Box 83720; Boise, Idaho 83720-0043
E-mail to: DOI.Reform@doi.idaho.gov

Public comments will be accepted until December 15.