This week the New York Times reported on an Administration decision to allow employers and group health plans to delay until 2015 an Affordable Care Act requirement to provide enrollees with a cap on their out-of-pocket costs. David Cusano takes a look at what the Administration’s decision says – and does not say – and what it means for group health plans.
The Affordable Care Act requires the Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) participating in health insurance exchanges to report on quality measures and implement quality improvement strategies. In December, HHS issued a Request for Information Regarding Health Care Quality for Exchanges in preparation for implementing these initiatives. In this blog, Sarah Dash provides a real-life illustration of why these quality improvement efforts are needed.
Health insurance is a complicated product that consumers have difficulty understanding, a common theme throughout Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on “The Power of Transparency: Giving Consumers the Information They Need to Make Smart Choices in the Health Insurance Market.” Fortunately, new tools are already available to help consumers shop for and compare coverage, and more will become available as Affordable Care Act implementation continues to roll out.
A number of states have acted in recent years to exempt health care sharing ministries from traditional insurance market rules. Katie Dunton examines this trend, the implications under the Affordable Care Act, and the impact on consumers.
Indiana officials are suggesting that people will have to pay an average of $500 per month for individual market health insurance in 2014. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Sarah Lueck looks at the rate filings behind the press release and finds that figure to be highly misleading.
We at CHIR are excited to announce the arrival of two new colleagues who will be helping us navigate the world of health insurance and the new health insurance marketplaces. Please join us in welcoming David Cusano and Justin Giovannelli.
Next year’s premiums for individual market plans will be way down in New York thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Christine Monahan discusses how a competitive exchange and the individual mandate will provide relief to cash-strapped New Yorkers.
It was another hot summer Friday for regulations with the release of the final rule on navigator and non-navigator assisters (aka in-person assisters) and Exchange-based certified application counselors (CACs). Our colleague with Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families, Tricia Brooks, dives in on what the rules mean for consumers.
With just under nine months to go until the open enrollment season begins on October 1, 2013, polls show that the general public is still largely unaware of the main provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Sarah Dash takes a look at the new Health Insurance Marketplace website unveiled by HHS to educate the public about health insurance exchanges.
On Thursday the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to examine implementation of the Affordable Care Act's health insurance exchanges. CHIR's Allison Johnson and Sarah Dash were there and report back in this blog.
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.
