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.
In this latest story in our ongoing series, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we look at how the ACA's ban on insurers discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions helps one family look ahead to their daughter's future with more security. JoAnn Volk brings us one family's story.
Last week HHS issued another round of Frequently Asked Questions, addressing the Basic Health Program, and a Request for Comment on agent/broker data collection. Sabrina Corlette takes a look at both.
In comments to federal regulators on recent proposed rules, the NAIC added its voice to the chorus of stakeholders who have weighed in on some of the Affordable Care Act’s most significant protections. Katie Keith has highlights from the NAIC's four comment letters on the 2014 market reforms, essential health benefits, multi-state plans, and the rate review template.
In our most recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR researchers studied the progress states have made to date in implementing the 2014 market reforms and found that most states have yet to move forward with changes they need. Katie Keith discusses the actions that states have taken so far and what our findings mean for federal and state regulators as they implement the Affordable Care Act.
The Office of Personnel Management recently issued a final rule on the multi-state plan program in which it attempts to standardize contracting processes and state rules to, in theory, make it easier for insurers to enter new markets while limiting the extent to which multi-state plan issuers can bypass state consumer protections and preserving a level playing field in exchanges. Christine Monahan discusses how OPM has attempted to balance these competing pressures and discusses where multi-state plans may or may not have flexibility.
Last week CMS released a set of instructions to insurance companies seeking to sell plans in the federally facilitated exchanges. Sabrina Corlette took a look at some of the details and provides some of the plan management highlights.
Sabrina Corlette and Christine Monahan have co-authored an article in today's Health Affairs, “State Insurance Exchanges Face Challenges In Offering Standardized Choices Alongside Innovative Value-Based Insurance.” Sabrina Corlette provides an overview.
The health insurance provisions of the Affordable Care Act were largely off the table in the recent negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff – with one exception. CHIRblogger Sabrina Corlette takes a look.
HHS recently issued a new set of frequently asked questions designed to address some issues that have been raised by the coverage of preventive services under the Affordable Care Act. Kevin Lucia takes a look at the guidance in the context of screening colonoscopy and discusses how it adds up in light of a recent CHIR report that explored how private insurers are applying cost-sharing for colorectal cancer screening.
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.
