Category: CHIR

Value for Whom? HHS Office of Civil Rights Seeks Input on the Impact of Payers’ Value Assessments on Health Equity

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As health care costs continue to rise, stakeholders are looking to innovations in provider payments and benefit designs grounded in the known “value” of different health services. But these strategies might fail to reflect the needs, values, and preferences of certain patients. This tension is evident as the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights considers whether value assessment methodologies discriminate against protected groups, such as people with disabilities and older adults.

New and Improved Navigator Resource Guide Answers Common Enrollment Questions and Reflects Policy Changes for 2023

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The tenth open enrollment season for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace is in full swing. With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHIR has updated and improved our Navigator Resource Guide. Navigators and other enrollment assisters can access over 300 frequently asked questions and answers, state fact sheets, a summary of new federal policies for 2023, and more.

State-Based Marketplace Outreach Strategies for Boosting Health Plan Enrollment of the Uninsured

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The tenth annual open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces is upon us. In a new issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Rachel Schwab, Rachel Swindle, and Justin Giovannelli detail innovative outreach strategies employed by state-based marketplaces during the open enrollment period for plan year 2022—tactics that can be applied during the forthcoming enrollment season for plan year 2023.

New Georgetown Report Reviews State Efforts to Enforce Mental Health Parity

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The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) aims to remove insurance-related obstacles to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, but inadequate compliance has raised questions about health plan enrollees’ ability to access critical behavioral health services. In a new issue brief, CHIR experts look at current barriers to effective state enforcement and identify opportunities to improve MHPAEA compliance.

September Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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It’s officially fall, and along with the new season came an autumnal bounty of new health policy research. This month, we reviewed studies on the connection between medical debt and social determinants of health, private equity acquisition of physician practices, and controlling health care costs through state surprise billing laws.

What’s New for 2023 Marketplace Enrollment?

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The annual open enrollment period for Marketplace coverage is right around the corner, running from November 1 through January 15 in most states. There are many new policies impacting the Marketplace in 2023, including an extension of enhanced financial assistance through the Inflation Reduction Act; a federal fix to the “family glitch” that will create more affordable coverage opportunities for families; and tools to make shopping for a Marketplace plan more consumer-friendly. CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker summarizes these and other recent policy changes that consumers may encounter this year.

Nevada Actuarial Study Projects Significant Savings from Public Option Plans

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Last week, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services released the results of an actuarial study projecting hundreds of millions of dollars in savings from the state’s Public Option plans within the program’s first few years. CHIR’s Christine Monahan takes a look at the estimated impact of the state’s public option-style law.

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.