© 2024
Virginia's Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Marketplace Virginia Gains Support to Curtail "Churning"

The Commonwealth Institute

While Virginia's General Assembly remains stalemated over Medicaid expansion in the state budget, one organization is providing an additional perspective on how families are impacted if the program is not expanded.  The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis is backing the new Senate budget with its private health insurance marketplace—in part, because it would help curtail a phenomenon known as "churning." 

Commonwealth Institute President and CEO Michael Cassidy says “churning” is when families must continuously shift insurance plans because of lifestyle or work changes that alter their eligibility.

Cassidy says through a state exchange such as Marketplace Virginia, where the providers are private insurance companies, enrollees could design their coverage so that it works more in concert with life change.

Cassidy says the Marketplace would also allow enrollees to stay in the same network of providers under varying circumstances.  Finally, he says Virginia has a lot of managed-care plans, and they would also be offered within the exchange.

Tommie McNeil is a State Capitol reporter who has been covering Virginia and Virginia politics for more than a decade. He originally hails from Maryland, and also doubles as the evening anchor for 1140 WRVA in Richmond.