Consumer Hotlines Closing

The Washington Post recently published an article about yet another casualty of Congress’s inaction in 2011, consumer health assistance hotlines. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) included grants for states to set up hotlines to help residents better understand their health insurance options, complete the application process and appeal denied claims. 35 states were awarded such grants. Future ongoing funding was authorized by the ACA but Congress’ failure to pass a budget and appropriate funds to these centers means they are closing.

While they’ve certainly provided assistance to some consumers during their initial year, these centers will have been a waste of funds if they are shut down. The hotlines spent money on marketing and outreach, assuming they would be funded indefinitely.

As health insurance gets increasingly complex and the options change rapidly as a result of the ACA, consumers need more help than ever before to wade through their choices. At a relatively small price (for example, Texas’s call center cost $2.8 million and hired nine staff) these hotlines provided priceless and impartial knowledge about insurance options. Hotlines are now either closing or looking to their state or private foundations for funding.

If insurance were regulated only by the states, I would argue that consumer assistance should be funded and carried out at the state level. However, when the federal government creates a top-down overhaul of the entire healthcare system, much to the dismay of many states governments, it would then be responsible for aiding consumers who are trying to make sense of the new and complex options. This responsibility will grow when, in 2014, more consumers find themselves without employer sponsored insurance, under a mandate to purchase coverage and navigating new and untested exchanges.