How HHS and DOL Can Deliver Price Relief to American Families

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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 federal agencies 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.

Early Signals from Executive Orders and Congressional Budget Proposals Bode Ill for Marketplace Enrollees

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The Trump Administration is considering a change that would cut financial assistance for health insurance by removing protections for people whose income increases during the year, potentially resulting in many individuals having to repay the subsidy they received. CHIR’s Karen Davenport discusses what this would mean, specifically for people with incomes below 400% of the poverty level.

December Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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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.

Georgetown CHIR & Association of Health Care Journalists Release Update to Health Insurance Tool

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The Association of Health Care Journalists has released an updated, interactive 50-state Media Guide to help journalists navigate the complexities of the U.S. health care system, offering detailed data on health insurance coverage, state policies, and regulatory agencies. Developed in partnership with Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, the guide includes a national overview, state-level resources, and essential tools for reporting on health coverage and consumer experiences.

HHS’s Competition Officer Offers Healthcare Cost Containment Opportunities for the Trump Administration

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The Biden administration has advanced several pro-competition reforms aimed at lowering health care costs and increasing consumer choice, an area of potential alignment with the incoming Trump administration. CHIR’s Kennah Watts discusses competition as a bipartisan policy and what the incoming Trump administration can do to support competitive markets and improve health care affordability.

November Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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In November, CHIR was thankful for the latest health policy research. We read about charity care provided by non-profit hospitals, Marketplace coverage for small business and self-employed workers, and out-of-pocket costs of traditional fee-for-service Medicare versus Medicare Advantage.

Biden Administration Proposal to Improve Access to Free Preventive Services Faces Uncertain Future

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The Biden Administration has proposed a rule to expand coverage of preventive services, including over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptives, without cost sharing. However, the proposal’s future is uncertain due to potential legal challenges and the political factors surrounding reproductive health. CHIR faculty Leila Sullivan and Amy Killelea discuss the proposal.

Enhancing Essential Health Benefits: How States Are Updating Benchmark Plans to Improve Coverage

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The Affordable Care Act mandates that health plans in the individual and small-group markets cover essential health benefits (EHB), with states setting the scope through a benchmark plan. A new brief for the Commonwealth Fund by CHIR faculty explores how states have used recent flexibility to expand EHB, address consumer needs, and advance health policy, while highlighting ongoing challenges

Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D: A New Compendium of Policy Proposals

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In 2023, for the first time, more than half of Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which offer private insurance alternatives to traditional Medicare, with 34 million enrollees in MA and 23 million in standalone Part D drug plans. A compendium of 70 policy proposals, created by Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, Medicare Policy Initiative offers a comprehensive resource for improving these programs, addressing issues like cost efficiency, provider networks, and many more.

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.