Here’s an ACA implementation update from the always authoritative Tmothy Jost.
He writes:
“Under earlier technical guidance, qualified health plan (QHP) insurers are required to submit quality rating system (QRS) clinical measures and QHP enrollee survey information during 2016 to support the display of quality ratings on HealthCare.gov for the 2017 open enrollment period. CMS beta tested its QRS for 2015, but has decided to delay a full-scale QRS launch until the 2018 open enrollment period.
“HealthCare.gov will continue to consumer test the display of QRS star ratings before implementing them on the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) nationwide. For 2017, star ratings will only be available in the FFM in five states: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. These states were chosen because they had ample participation by QHP insurers and relative variation in star ratings in the beta test. CMS hopes that the further pilot testing will give it additional time to better ascertain how consumers will use quality reporting, to develop technical assistance and educational tools to facilitate the use of quality ratings, and to allow insurers to measure and improve the quality of their QHP offerings.”