Why will consumers outside insurance exchange pay fees?

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 | 4 p.m.

Due to confusion about fees charged in the federal Affordable Care Act, the Silver State Insurance Exchange has issued a clarifying statement on the issue.

The Senate Finance Committee earlier this week was left with questions about the fees and who would be paying them.

The exchange said companies that enroll in the program will pay a fee of $4.95 a month per person who buys a policy. The money will be used to support the state program after federal funds run out.

Insurance companies that choose not to enroll will not be charged a fee. But companies that sell health insurance through the exchange and continue to sell policies outside the exchange will have to charge the same premiums as those offered in the exchange.

So a portion of the fees charged by the exchange will be paid by consumers who buy policies outside the exchange.

Senators said they didn’t think it was fair that policies sold outside the exchange should be hit with a fee. But the federal rules require that the rates of a company that sells health insurance policies in the exchange must maintain the same rates as those sold outside the system.

The system is building a marketplace where consumers and small business can shop and compare policies of companies that enroll in the exchange.