The Notice of Benefit & Payment Parameters prescribes standards and rules that govern insurers and Marketplaces under the ACA. This annual regulation, that went into effect January 15, represents a final set of health insurance policies from the Biden administration focusing on quality and affordability. In their latest piece for Health Affairs Forefront, Sabrina Corlette and Jason Levitis discuss this final rule and what it means.

President Trump’s price relief memorandum calls for reducing unnecessary administrative costs and rent-seeking behavior in health care. With federal agencies empowered to gather information and potentially drive reforms to eliminate wasteful spending, CHIR’s Christine Monahan discusses how they can effectively implement this directive by investigating intermediaries like pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and third-party administrators (TPAs) that increase consumer and employers costs through profit-driven practices.

Right before an early executive order signaling the Trump Administration’s interest in reducing access to health coverage, House Budget Committee leadership shared a wish-list of spending cuts that will severely damage health insurance affordability for marketplace enrollees. CHIR’s Karen Davenport considers the full picture for coverage policy.

A snowy first week of January gave us plenty of time to read some of the last research from 2024. This month we read about prescription drug pricing and the impacts of rebates on consumers, as well as market shares of Medicare Advantage carriers.