Basic Health Plan

Back in May, I first wrote about news that two additional states, Oregon and Kentucky, had decided to join New York and Minnesota in launching a Basic Health Plan (BHP) program under a provision allowing them to do so in the Affordable Care Act:

The Basic Health Program (BHP) – section 1331 of the ACA — was envisioned as a solution, although most states did not establish a BHP. Under the ACA (aka Obamacare), states have the option to create a Basic Health Program for people with incomes a little above the upper limit for Medicaid eligibility, and for legal immigrants who aren’t eligible for Medicaid because of the five-year waiting period.

The way BHPs work, once established, is like so:

I originally wrote this post in May; I'm reposting it with some updates below:

I haven't written much about the ACA's Basic Health Plan (BHP) program for awhile, aside from noting that it's well past time for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to start including BHP enrollment in their official Open Enrollment Period reports, seeing how over a million people in Minnesota & New York now have healthcare coverage via BHP policies.

As a refresher, here's Louise Norris' summary explainer: