All Health Insurance Issuers in the Individual and Small Group Markets : Company Bulletin 2020-17 Premium Credits for Health Insurance Coverage

1 Illinois Department of Insurance JB PRITZKER Governor ROBERT H. MURIEL Director MEMORANDUM TO: All Health Insurance Issuers in the Individual and Small Group Markets FROM: Robert H. Muriel, Director of Insurance DATE: September 2, 2020 RE: Company Bulletin 2020-17 Premium Credits for Health Insurance Coverage On August 4, 2020, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a guidance document with the subject “Temporary Policy on 2020 Premium Credits Associated with the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency”1 (“CMS guidance”). The CMS guidance announced a policy of temporarily relaxed enforcement of federal law and regulations, specifically, 45 C.F.R. §§ 147.102, 155.200(f)(4), 155.400(e) and (g), 155.706(b)(6)(1)(A), 156.80(d), 156.210(a), and 156.286(a)(2)–(4). The CMS guidance outlines a process for health insurance issuers to temporarily offer premium credits for 2020 coverage in the individual and small group markets to support continuity of coverage during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In light of the CMS guidance, the Department of Insurance (Department) issues this Company Bulletin to notify Illinois-licensed health insurance issuers that no state enforcement actions will be taken against issuers for availing themselves of CMS’ relaxed enforcement to provide financial relief to their small group and individual enrollees in the 2020 plan year, provided that it is done in the manner set forth in the CMS guidance. The Department, however, requires any health insurance issuer wishing to offer such financial relief to its enrollees in these markets to file a request with the Department for informational purposes within the System for Electronic Rate and Form Filings (SERFF). The request should identify the SERFF Tracking Number(s) of the underlying rate filing(s) that are affected by the offering of the premium credit. The filing shall contain all premium credit information, including: samples of the correspondence notifying enrollee(s) of the credit(s), the fixed percentage(s) of the credit(s), and the applicable month(s) of 2020 when the credit(s) will be applied. Credits must be applied in a uniform and non-discriminatory manner to all members in a market as described by CMS. Please refer to the CMS guidance for further details about conditions and limitations on applying and reporting the premium credits. Questions regarding this Company Bulletin should be directed to DOI.InfoDesk@illinois.gov. 1 Available at https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Marketplaces/Downloads/Premium- Credit-Guidance.pdf.