GAO reviewed the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) new rule on the patient protection and affordable care act; establishment of the multi-State plan program for the affordable insurance exchanges. GAO found that (1) the final rule establishes the Multi-State Plan Program (MSPP) pursuant to the Affordable Care Act. Through contracts with OPM, health insurance issuers will offer at least two multi-state plans (MSPs) on each of the Affordable Insurance Exchanges. One of the issuers must be non-profit. An MSPP issuer may phase in the states in which it offers coverage over 4 years, but it must offer MSPs on Exchanges in all states and the District of Columbia by the fourth year in which the MSPP issuer participates in the MSPP. With this rule, OPM aims to balance adhering to the statutory goals of MSPP while aligning its standards to those applying to qualified health plans to promote a level playing field across health plans; and (2) with the exception of the 60-day delay in the effective date, OPM complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule.
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