Panel endorses Arkansas insurance marketplace fee plan

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas lawmakers have endorsed an agency's plan to collect a 3 percent fee on plans offered through the state's health insurance exchange.

The Arkansas Health Insurance Market Place Legislative Oversight Committee on Wednesday backed the marketplace board's plan to begin collecting the fee in December. The 3 percent fee would replace a 3.5 percent fee that has been collected by the federal government since enrollment in the exchanges began two years ago.

The vote came after legislative staff members earlier this month said they incorrectly reported the panel had endorsed the fee. Half of the money generated from the fee will go to the federal government, which handles the systems for enrolling individual consumers online. The rest will go to the state Health Insurance Marketplace.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/sep/14/panel-endorses-arkansas-insurance-marketplace-fee-/?f=news-politics
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