HHS Publishes Exchange Enrollment Applications

The Department of Health and Human Services has published the final enrollment forms that individuals and families will use when applying for coverage through the ACA health insurance exchanges.  Both applications are considerably shorter than the proposed versions.  The individual application is now only three pages long, and the family application is now seven pages long.  The applications are based on a "no wrong door" approach to enrollment, meaning that an applicant fills out one form, and the exchange assists that applicant in enrolling in the coverage most appropriate for his or her situation, including government programs such as Medicaid, CHIP, or veterans' and military benefits.

An appendix to the family application includes an Employer Coverage Tool, which is a one-page form that employees can take to their employers, and request that the employer fill out information regarding the coverage offered to employees.  Employers have assumed that they would need to interact with exchanges in some fashion, and the form confirms that employees themselves will be the link between employers and the exchanges in making eligibility determinations.  The Employer Coverage Tool also asks whether the employer plans to make any changes to its health insurance benefit offerings within the next year.