A Setback, Not a Defeat: Our Work to Ensure Access to Affordable, High Quality Health Care Continues

President Trump’s signature on H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation bill, will lead to upwards of 17 million people losing their health insurance and millions more with higher barriers to accessing care. At CHIR, we’ll be working to minimize the law’s harms, document its effects, and partner with those seeking to reverse its worst abuses.
Explore the Data: Interactive Map of Dental Coverage Through the Marketplaces
Independent Dispute Resolution Process 2024 Data: High Volume, More Provider Wins

While the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process is intended to lead to fair outcomes for out-of-network payment, new analysis demonstrates unexpectedly high use of the IDR process, mostly by private-equity-backed providers that win often and win large. In their latest piece for Health Affairs Forefront, Jack Hoadley, Kennah Watts, and Zachary Baron illustrate trends in the IDR process and explore implications for costs.
Testimony of Sabrina Corlette, J.D. before the U.S. House of Representatives Ways & Means Health Subcommittee – June 25, 2025

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways & Means Health Subcommittee recently held a hearing about ways to advance digital health technologies. CHIR expert Sabrina Corlette was one of the invited panelists, warning the committee that, while these new technologies hold promise, consumers can only benefit from them if they have access to affordable, high quality health insurance.
Early 2026 Rate Filings Show Marketplace Policy Changes Contribute to Eye-Popping Rate Increases

This year, insurers are setting their rates for 2026 while Congress and the administration weigh several policies that are projected to cause premiums to spike and the number of people with Marketplace coverage to plummet. In a new blog, CHIR experts investigate early 2026 rate filings and related analysis to explore how insurers are responding to an array of anticipated federal ACA policy changes and uncertainty around them.
Second Verse, Same as the First: Senate Reconciliation Language Failes to Fix Paperwork Burdens, Other Barriers to Marketplace Coverage

With the passage of H.R.1, the House of Representatives’ version of the budget reconciliation bill that will advance President Trump’s domestic policy agenda, all eyes are turned towards the Senate. In a new CHIRblog, ACA experts Karen Davenport, Stacey Pogue, and Sabrina Corlette discuss how draft legislation emerging from the Senate would create enrollment barriers to Marketplace coverage that largely mirror the House’s reconciliation bill.
Indiana’s Extraordinary Legislative Session Exemplifies How Incremental Efforts Can Improve Health Care Affordability

While Indiana lawmakers have been working to reduce health care costs for commercial health insurance for more than a decade, Indiana’s 125th Legislative Session was particularly productive. CHIR experts explore Indiana’s efforts to improve health care affordability, and discuss how this could serve as an example for other states.
May Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

In May, we welcomed spring blooms and warm weather, while staying engaged with the latest health policy research. This month we read about potential effects of the reconciliation bill on provider revenue and uncompensated care, Rhode Island’s affordability standards and their effects on hospital prices, and coverage retention and plan switching following changes in premiums.
The Reconciliation Bill Eliminates Long-Standing State Flexibility to Operate Marketplaces and Regulate Private Health Insurance

The budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would eliminate much of the flexibility granted to states over the operations of State-Based Marketplaces (SBMs), impose burdensome new requirements, and reduce their revenue base. In a new CHIRblog post, ACA experts Jason Levitis, Christen Linke-Young, Sabrina Corlette, Ellen Montz, and Claire O’Brien dive into the bill’s costly new mandates for states.