HHS Establishes New Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the creation of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, a new division that will provide “leadership for implementing the provisions of the health reform bill that address private health insurance.” According to a notice (pdf) published in the Federal Register, the following are the components of this new division and a brief description of the main responsibilities of each office within the division:

• Office of the Director (AUA), which will provide executive direction, leadership, and support to the other offices. Responsibilities of this office include, among other things, planning, evaluation, regulatory affairs, external relations, and administrative management.
• Office of Oversight (AUB), which will be in charge of implementing, monitoring compliance with, and enforcing both the new rules governing the insurance market and the new rules regarding medical loss ratios; performing rate reviews; and issuing rate review grants to states.
• Office of Insurance Programs (AUC), which will be responsible for administering both the temporary high-risk pool programs and associated funding to states and the early retiree reinsurance program.
• Office of Consumer Support (AUD), which will be responsible for collecting, compiling and maintaining comparative pricing data for the HHS’s web site; providing assistance to enable consumers to obtain maximum benefit from the new health insurance system; and establishing and issuing consumer assistance grants to states; and
• Office of Health Insurance Exchanges (AUE), whose responsibilities include developing and implementing policies and rules governing state-based exchanges; establishing and issuing planning grants to states; and overseeing the operations of exchanges.

This entry was written by Ilyse Schuman.