Category: CHIR

The Feds Crack Down on Sham Insurance: New Court Order to Protect Consumers from Deceptive Marketing

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Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against Benefytt Technologies, finding the company relied on deceptive websites, high-pressure sales tactics, and misleading information to push consumers into enrolling in junk plans, and then made it difficult for consumers to cancel their coverage. CHIR’s prior research on the marketing of junk plans shows that these tactics are neither new nor unique.

August Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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For the August edition of our monthly research roundup, CHIR said farewell to summer by reviewing the latest health policy research. This month, we summarize studies on how the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) will impact health coverage, global efforts to achieve universal health coverage, and the effects of eliminating nominal marketplace premiums.

CHIR Welcomes Three New Faculty Members

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CHIR is delighted to welcome three new faculty members to our team: Research Professor Linda Blumberg, Senior Research Fellow Karen Davenport, and Assistant Research Professor Vrudhi Raimugia.

Third Time is the Charm? Proposed Regulations Strengthen Nondiscrimination Protections for Health Insurance Enrollees

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For the third time, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights has proposed rules to effectuate the application of civil rights protections to the health care industry under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. If finalized, the regulation will have significant implications for health insurers and provide important nondiscrimination protections for insurance enrollees.

July Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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New health policy research topped CHIR’s list of beach reads this July. For the latest monthly research roundup, we reviewed studies on marketplace enrollees’ denied claims, how marketplace coverage has benefitted small business and self-employed workers, and out-of-pocket spending on insulin.

From Cancer Screenings to Prenatal Care, the Latest Challenge to the Affordable Care Act Threatens Availability of Free Preventive Services

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The ACA requires that most insurers and employers cover a set of preventive health services at no cost to enrollees. Estimates suggest that more than 150 million people have access to over 100 services such as cancer screenings, contraception, and vaccines without any out-of-pocket costs. A case pending in federal court threatens to cut off consumers’ access by allowing insurers to impose cost-sharing on these services or, in some cases, cease covering them altogether. CHIR’s Rachel Schwab takes a look at some of the currently free services in jeopardy.

In a Post-Roe World, Employers Looking to Cover Out-of-State Travel for Abortion Services Have Multiple Options and Plenty of Uncertainty

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Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, analyses project up to half of women and girls in the U.S. between the ages of 15 and 44 will live in states that significantly restrict or ban abortion services. The scale and geographic reach of these bans intensifies questions about travel costs and access to these services. Employers are looking at ways to cover abortion-related travel costs for workers.

June Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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It’s finally summer, and during the latest heat wave, the CHIR team cooled off with new health policy research. In June, we reviewed studies on improving race and ethnicity data collection in health insurance marketplaces, the value of health savings accounts, and variation in medical debt accumulation across the U.S.

Improving Race and Ethnicity Data Collection: A First Step to Furthering Health Equity Through the State-Based Marketplaces

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The ACA’s marketplaces are working to advance health equity. State-based marketplaces are uniquely situated to improve health equity if they can close current gaps in race and ethnicity data. In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR’s Dania Palanker, Jalisa Clark, and Christine Monahan examine the landscape of marketplace race and ethnicity data, and detail strategies for the upcoming open enrollment period to improve data collection.

Understanding the Role of Private Equity in the Health Care Sector

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As private equity involvement in the health care industry increases, policymakers and other stakeholders are sounding the alarm and calling for better regulation to control costs and protect patients. CHIR’s Maanasa Kona takes a look at the role of private equity in the health care sector and how it impacts consumers.

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.