Author Archive: CHIR Faculty

Tick Tock: An Unforgiving Calendar for Health Plans Makes Orderly “Transition” for Affordable Care Act Repeal Unlikely

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The incoming Congress and Administration have pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act but hope to minimize disruption by providing for a transition period. However, insurers must make key decisions about health plans and pricing far in advance of bringing those plans to market. In an ongoing series of articles for The Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Sabrina Corlette and Kevin Lucia partner with Julie Andrews of Wakely Consulting Group to examine how the uncertainty created by Congressional action could result in far fewer plan choices and significantly higher premiums for consumers.

Twelve Days of Coverage

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Despite the gloom and doom surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when we look back at what the ACA has achieved, there is cause to celebrate this holiday season. Six years after President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law, we have the lowest uninsured rate and record enrollment numbers on Healthcare.Gov, showing just how much people need and want comprehensive health insurance. As we hum along to our favorite holiday hits, CHIR has composed a new carol to pay homage to the monumental health care law that has led to unprecedented coverage and consumer protections. Happy holidays!

The Final Countdown for 2017 Coverage Underway in the Shadows of Affordable Care Act Repeal

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Extended to December 19, 2016, consumers have four more days to enroll in an Affordable Care Act marketplace plan that starts January 1, 2017. With an incoming Congress and President-Elect promising to repeal the health care law, consumers may have questions about what will happen to their coverage or why they should bother to enroll. Before the sun sets on this year’s open enrollment season, we’ve answered a couple of common consumer questions.

A Lot to Lose: What’s on the Line for Women if the Affordable Care Act is Repealed

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It’s the holiday season, but rather than visions of sugar plums dancing above our heads, we have visions of mammogram machines, birth control, doctor offices, and medical bills. Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), women faced numerous barriers obtaining affordable health care. After years of insurance industry practices like gender rating and pre-existing condition exclusions, the ACA ushered in a new era for women’s health, eliminating those discriminatory and unfair insurance practices from the insurance market.

Soldiering On

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This past week’s stunning election results have put the future of the Affordable Care Act – and health coverage for millions of people – in jeopardy. What the new President and Congress will replace the law with is anyone’s guess. Sabrina Corlette, Kevin Lucia and JoAnn Volk discuss how we at CHIR will continue our mission of improving access to affordable and adequate insurance through reasoned, evidence-based research and analysis.

How Could a New Administration Tackle Affordable Care Act Challenges? Look to Medicare

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The next President and Congress will likely need to consider policy options to help stabilize the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces. But the challenges in those markets are not unique – Medicare Advantage markets have faced similar turmoil. In this blog post for Health Affairs, Sabrina Corlette and Jack Hoadley review the Bush administration’s policy responses to market instability in Medicare – and the lessons those policies hold for the ACA.

Consumer Shopping on Healthcare.gov During Open Enrollment 4

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Choosing a health plan is like putting a puzzle together, you need help putting all the pieces together. This year for open enrollment, Healthcare.gov has more features to be that help for consumers so they can put the puzzle together with shopping tools and information. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn and Emily Curran summarize some of the helpful changes on Healthcare.gov.

Simple Choice Plans Debut on Healthcare.Gov

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Simple Choice plans, standardized benefit designs with fixed cost-sharing amounts and pre-deductible services, are new this year on Healthcare.gov. These types of plans can help consumers make “apples-to-apples” comparisons, but the the availability of such plans depends on insurer participation and local markets. Emily Curran and others here at CHIR take a look at the availability of Simple Choice plans on Healthcare.gov and find it’s a mixed bag.

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.