{"id":22335,"date":"2020-09-22T11:11:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T15:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=22335"},"modified":"2020-09-22T11:11:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T15:11:09","slug":"state-announces-pennie-a-new-state-based-health-insurance-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=22335","title":{"rendered":"State announces ‘Pennie’ \u2014 a new, state-based health insurance marketplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today,\u00a0Pennsylvania announced, Pennie™, the new state-based health insurance marketplace for 2021 coverage. Pennie is available to all Pennsylvanians and aims to improve the accessibility and affordability of individual market health coverage. It is also the only place that connects Pennsylvanians to financial assistance to reduce the cost of coverage and care.<\/p>\n

Pennie was\u00a0created by\u00a0Act 42 of 2019<\/a>,\u00a0passed unanimously by both chambers of the General Assembly and\u00a0signed into law by Governor\u00a0Tom\u00a0Wolf on July 2, 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Administration has made it a priority to ensure all Pennsylvanians have health care that is accessible and affordable, and it is my hope that Pennie, as our state-based health insurance marketplace, works to make that priority a reality,\u201d Governor Tom Wolf said. \u201cI encourage Pennsylvanians to explore their health insurance options with Pennie.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pennsylvanians can begin shopping for health and dental coverage through Pennie at the start of Open Enrollment on November 1, 2020. This year, Pennie extended the 2021 Open Enrollment Period which will run from November 1, 2020 through January 15, 2021.\u00a0Pennsylvanians currently enrolled through\u00a0HealthCare.gov<\/a> will be transitioned to Pennie for their 2021 coverage. Pennie\u2019s goal is to make it easier for Pennsylvanians to access coverage through education, assistance, and improved customer service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis\u00a0is an exciting step forward for Pennsylvania.\u00a0 By\u00a0transitioning from\u00a0Healthcare.Gov<\/a> to a state-based marketplace,\u00a0Pennie will\u00a0have\u00a0the flexibility\u00a0to react to changes and serve\u00a0individuals and families\u00a0in\u00a0the way best\u00a0suited for their needs.\u00a0\u00a0Through local\u00a0control of\u00a0our operations, outreach\u00a0and\u00a0customer service,\u00a0we\u00a0aim to\u00a0simplify\u00a0the purchasing process\u00a0and enable\u00a0shoppers\u00a0to\u00a0find the right plan,\u201d says Zachary W. Sherman, Pennie Executive Director. Sherman came from Rhode Island\u2019s\u00a0marketplace,\u00a0HealthSource\u00a0RI, to serve as\u00a0the\u00a0first Executive Director of Pennie. \u201cAffordability is one of the largest barriers\u00a0prohibiting\u00a0people from\u00a0accessing quality coverage\u00a0and through\u00a0the\u00a0Pennsylvania Reinsurance Program<\/a>,\u00a0Pennie will\u00a0generate\u00a0millions in\u00a0premiums\u00a0savings\u00a0for\u00a0individual market customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pennie\u00a0will\u00a0work closely with insurers\u00a0to\u00a0foster a competitive marketplace;\u00a0with the Department of Human Services\u00a0to\u00a0support\u00a0Pennsylvanians\u00a0transitioning\u00a0between Medical Assistance, CHIP and the marketplace;\u00a0and\u00a0with community and local leadership to\u00a0promote and educate the public about the\u00a0transition.\u00a0Pennie\u00a0has also significantly enhanced the state\u2019s network of Exchange Assisters who provide multilingual support, in-person or by online appointment,\u00a0across\u00a0the\u00a0Commonwealth.\u00a0Pennie has also kicked off\u00a0a streamlined, Pennsylvania-specific\u00a0training\u00a0for\u00a0thousands of producers\u00a0who will sell coverage as Pennie-Certified Producers\u00a0during\u00a0the 2021 Open Enrollment Period.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited and proud to bring Pennie to the citizens of Pennsylvania,\u201d says Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman. \u201cOur mission is to help Pennsylvanians access the health insurance they need to live a healthy life. This is now more important than ever. We strive to support all Pennsylvanians and understand many who lost employer-sponsored coverage as a result of COVID-19 may be new to the individual market and unaware our marketplace is a resource for assistance and financial help to pay for coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pennsylvanians interested\u00a0in learning more about Pennie can visit\u00a0pennie.com<\/a>\u00a0to find information\u00a0about the new marketplace and the transition from HealthCare.gov<\/a>. Pennie will be communicating with transitioning customers in early October to ensure they are prepared for the 2021 Open Enrollment Period.\u00a0During\u00a0Open\u00a0Enrollment, pennie.com<\/a> will provide customers with the tools to learn, compare and shop for their health insurance coverage. Through Pennie only, customers can see if they are eligible for financial assistance that can help lower their monthly premiums or out-of-pocket costs in the form of Advanced Premium Tax Credits and\/or Cost-Sharing Reductions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today,\u00a0Pennsylvania announced, Pennie™, the new state-based health insurance marketplace for 2021 coverage. Pennie is available to all Pennsylvanians and aims to improve the accessibility and affordability of individual market health coverage. It is also the only place that connects Pennsylvanians to financial assistance to reduce the cost of coverage and care. Pennie was\u00a0created by\u00a0Act 42 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3009,9197,9196],"class_list":["post-22335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-health-care","tag-marketplace","tag-pennie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22336,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22335\/revisions\/22336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}