GAO: Waivers to limited plans are objective

The Obama administration used objective guidelines when granting waivers to limited-benefit health plans, the Government Accountability Office determines in a new report. The report concludes that the HHS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which handles waiver applications, has granted waivers mostly for applicants that projected the annual limit restrictions would lead to premium increase of more than 10 percent, in addition to a significant decrease in access to benefits. Conversely, most of the applicants that were denied projected premium increases of 6 percent or less. Article