Comments on Proposed Marketplace Rules April 2025

HHS released a proposed rule affecting Marketplace coverage for comments. Attached are the comments filed by the Massachusetts Health Connector (our state-based Marketplace) and the comments filed by MLRI. Virtually all the proposed changes would make it harder for eligible people to enroll or renew their health insurance coverage and make their coverage less affordable along with other negative changes affecting eligibility and the scope of benefits. 

Update: On June 25, 2025, HHS published the final rule. Many of the proposed rules were finalized to take effect only temporarily in Plan Year 2026.   The Health Connector typically sends out preliminary eligibility notices for the following plan year in August--just two months away--making the final rules even more problematic. 

The link below is the HHS press release & summary of the final rule. 

Health Affairs also published a 2-part analysis of the final rule. https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/hhs-finalizes-aca-marketplace-rule-part-2-income-and-sep-verification-failure-reconcile