Canceled insurance? Another insurance letter coming soon

(CNN) - The Obama administration released three sample letters on Thursday detailing what information insurance companies must provide consumers if they intend to renew health plans originally scheduled for cancellation.

The release comes a week after President Barack Obama announced a proposed fix that would allow some Americans facing cancellations to keep their current health insurance plans. The President's proposal requires that companies choosing to renew plans also provide their customers with certain information.

The three letters released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services cover three different scenarios. The first must be sent to consumers who have already received a cancellation notice alerting them that they will have to choose a new plan for 2014.

If an insurance company has decided to follow the President's proposal and renew a plan it had planned on canceling, it must detail the ways in which the old plan does not comply with consumer protections included in the Affordable Care Act. The company must also tell customers how they can choose a different, more comprehensive plan on their local insurance exchange where they could be eligible for financial assistance.

The second letter includes much of the same language, and must be sent to consumers who may not have received a cancellation notice but who now have the opportunity to renew plans not in compliance with the ACA.

The third letter notifies customers whose plans are still going to be canceled that they still have other opportunities to purchase insurance. Despite the President's effort last week to keep his promise that if people like their health insurance they could keep it, some current policies will still be canceled.

At least seven states have said they will not go along with the President's proposal to allow companies to renew older plans for one year, and some insurance companies may decide not to renew those plans even in states where they're allowed.

In those cases, companies are still required to inform customers that they may be eligible to purchase more robust insurance both on and off the new insurance marketplace.