As hospitals expand and take over outpatient care settings, consumers are facing additional charges in the form of facility fees when they see physicians and other providers. In a new post for Health Affairs Forefront, Christine Monahan and Linda Blumberg detail congressional proposals to reform billing practices that expose consumers to facility fees.
A September 12 vote in Oregon would make it the third state to establish a Basic Health Program, after New York and Minnesota. CHIR and Urban Institute researchers recently examined New York and Minnesota’s experiences with the BHP and the lessons learned for other states considering the program.
CHIR is delighted to welcome Nadia Stovicek (she/her), M.P.P., as our newest faculty member.
The “Colorado Option” – a unique state effort improve health insurance affordability – is underway. With the first year of enhanced premium scrutiny now completed, CHIR experts Christine Monahan, Nadia Stovicek, and Sabrina Corlette examine how the process unfolded and what it means for consumers.
A recently proposed federal rule aims to mitigate the harm of short-term insurance plans, products exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections. In a post for the Commonwealth Fund, Justin Giovannelli, Kevin Lucia, and Christina L. Goe explain the proposed federal rule and describe what else states can do to further protect their residents.
A massive coverage transition is underway for millions of people who have relied on Medicaid throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. After a three-year pause, states have begun disenrolling residents from Medicaid, leaving millions of people in need of new coverage. A secret shopper study conducted in June 2023 suggests that people losing Medicaid are facing aggressive marketing of limited benefit products.
Millions of Americans rely on Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSM) in lieu of insurance to provide a financial cushion if they get sick or injured. But data from HCSM public filings suggest that reliance may be built on a shaky foundation. CHIR’s Nadia Stovicek and JoAnn Volk share their findings.
The No Surprises Act is largely working as intended to protect patients from unexpected medical bills. However, the rising number of Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) cases is creating challenges for the health care system. In a post for Health Affairs Forefront, Jack Hoadley and Kevin Lucia evaluate the causes and implications of the increasing number of IDR cases.
While the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) ended in May, the PHE declaration for the opioid crisis continues. Opioid overdose deaths remain alarmingly high, and the Biden administration recently bolstered the federal government’s response to the opioid crisis with new proposed rules to strengthen access to treatment. CHIR’s Rachel Swindle and Kristen Ukeomah explore this proposal as well as other recent state and federal policy changes that aim to reduce barriers to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder.
In a new case study, published in collaboration with the Milbank Memorial Fund, CHIR researchers examined stakeholder efforts to improve primary care access in Kanawha County, West Virginia—an area designated as a primary care health professional shortage area for low-income 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.
