A growing body of evidence suggests private equity investments in health care have raised provider prices and reduced care quality in certain settings. In a new Health Affairs Forefront article, Linda Blumberg and Kennah Watts look at the track record of private equity acquisitions and how cost-containment efforts could help mitigate private equity’s influence and improve patient outcomes.
Federal regulations require hospitals and insurers to publish negotiated prices. States are also playing a role in this effort by monitoring compliance with the federal rules and implementing other policies to educate consumers and improve this cost-containment tool. In their recent Health Affairs Forefront article, Maanasa Kona and Nadia Stovicek look at state actions to promote price transparency.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently released a final rule setting standards for the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces and health insurers for plan year 2025. In their latest Health Affairs Forefront article, Sabrina Corlette and Jason Levitis discuss the new Marketplace standards, insurance reforms, and policies concerning Advance Premium Tax Credits.
Last month the Biden administration finalized rules establishing new standards and disclosure requirements for certain limited benefit products. In one of her recent Health Affairs Forefront articles, Sabrina Corlette takes a look at what’s in the final regulations.
As another tax filing season comes to a close, millions of Americans have reduced their taxable income through accounts that help pay for medical costs using a “health savings account” (HSA). Members of Congress have put forth bipartisan proposals to expand HSAs, but with the benefits of these accounts primarily accruing to healthier and wealthier Americans, expanding this option could exacerbate an already regressive tax break without improving access to coverage or care.
Thanks to daylight savings in March, CHIR had more time to keep up with the latest health policy research. Last month, we read studies about Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans and enrollee characteristics, Georgia’s reinsurance waiver, and Oregon’s hospital price cap.
Last month, CHIR experts Rachel Swindle and Karen Davenport shared findings from CHIR’s research on state-level facility fee reforms before House and Senate committees of the Maryland General Assembly.
The final Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters for plan year 2025 is expected soon. The proposed rule included a provision that would permit states to require coverage of adult dental services as part of the Essential Health Benefits. As part of a CHIRblog series on Marketplace dental benefits, CHIR reviewed comments submitted in response to this proposal by select stakeholder groups.
In the United States, immigrants are disproportionately likely to be uninsured. This disparity stems from systemic inequalities such as legal barriers to affordable coverage for noncitizens—especially undocumented immigrants. While state efforts to provide Medicaid-equivalent benefits to some populations of undocumented residents have helped expand access to coverage, many low- and moderate-income undocumented residents remain without affordable health insurance options. In a recent post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Justin Giovannelli and Rachel Schwab explore recent state actions to fill this gap.
According to recent estimates, almost 100 million people have debt because of medical or dental bills. To mitigate this problem, nineteen states and the District of Columbia require hospitals to provide financial assistance to low-income populations, but the process of applying for financial assistance is often cumbersome and inaccessible. In a recent post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Maanasa Kona discusses how some states have made the financial assistance application process easier for their residents.
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the individual blog post authors and do not represent the views of Georgetown University, the Center on Health Insurance Reforms, any organization that the author is affiliated with, or the opinions of any other author who publishes on this blog.
