Commerce Secretary Michael Ada said the department is still reviewing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 and its impact on the CNMI.
“No CNMI official position has been released as of yet,” Ada said.
As part of Commerce’s consumer outreach on the new law, the public is invited to visit www.commerce.gov.mp to access the latest updates about health care reform.
Recently, state insurance regulators warned consumers to be on the alert for scammers who may take advantage of the confusion about the new law.
The warning was issued after state insurance regulators received complaints about scam artists who conducted a door-to- door campaign selling “ObamaCare” insurance policies. The insurance regulators also said that these scammers are claiming that there is a limited time offer to buy health insurance while some have even set up bogus toll-free numbers to convince people to buy insurance policies.
The public is encouraged to call and confirm with their insurance department before they make any payment to these policy sellers.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said there are no immediate changes or provisions that require consumers to make immediate modifications.
Many of the initial changes will take effect in September, or six months after President Obama signed the law. The state insurance regulators, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the federal government are still working on implementing the changes.
Warning signs
Here are some important “red flags” to watch out for:
• The agent or salesperson declares that the premium is available for a limited time period only.
• Before you make any payment, write a check or sign a contract for one of these policies, call your state insurance department to make sure the agent and the insurance company and agent are licensed.
• The agent or salesperson will say that the coverage is required by the health care reform law. This requirement does not go into effect until 2014 for most people.
• The agent doesn’t explain the full coverage included in the policy.
• The agent says that the coverage will be exempted from changes required by the health care reform law.
The only policies that are exempted from changes required by law are those that are purchased before President Obama signed the law on March 23, 2010
Any other insurance policy purchased now should comply with all the changes required by the new law to satisfy the individual mandates in 2014.
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