With the generous support of Arnold Ventures, CHIR experts have launched a new resource center and newsletter to provide policymakers with a dedicated, independent source of unbiased and comprehensive information on public health insurance options and related proposals that promote affordability and contain costs. Find out more.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to historic reductions in racial and ethnic disparities related to health insurance coverage. However, equal access to health coverage is not enough to ensure health equity. In their latest issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, Dania Palanker and Nia Denise Gooding examine how four state-based health insurance marketplaces have acted to reduce health inequity, and outline considerations for other state-based marketplaces developing a health equity strategy.
The need for mental health and substance use disorder services is substantial and growing. One in five adults in the United States, or 53 million people, had a mental illness in 2020, including 14 million adults who had serious mental illness; forty million adults had a substance use disorder. In response to these troubling trends, policymakers are seeking multi-pronged approaches to provide greater access to services that treat and manage mental health and substance use disorders. CHIR’s JoAnn Volk outlines how both Congress and the Biden administration plan to improve access to behavioral health care.
April brought us a shower of health policy research, including studies on the implications of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARP) enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) expiring for marketplace beneficiaries, how value-based payment models have fared in the commercial health insurance market, and trends in prices that private health plans pay for hospital care across the United States. We took some time away from checking out the cherry blossoms to dig in.
Last month the Texas Department of Insurance issued a consent order dissolving Texas-based Triada Assurance Holdings, operating under the name Salvasen Health, which marketed and sold their fixed indemnity plans to 65,000 consumers nationwide, advertising their products as comprehensive coverage. CHIR’s Madeline O’Brien looks at is Salvasen’s deceptive practices and state responses to mitigate harm to consumers.
Roughly 5 million people are currently unable to access marketplace subsidies due to a flawed interpretation of the Affordable Care Act dubbed the “family glitch.” Last month, the Biden administration proposed new rules, grounded in a revised interpretation of the law, which would increase access to affordable coverage for families of low and moderate-income workers. Karen Davenport looks at the proposed regulatory fix and how it will impact consumers and other health insurance stakeholders.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends feeding infants breastmilk through their first year. One of the barriers to doing so is cost. The Affordable Care Act requires most health insurance plans to cover breastfeeding services and supplies without cost sharing, but gaps in access for enrollees have underscored the need for policy changes. CHIR expert and new mom Christine Monahan looks at new federal guidelines on the coverage of breastfeeding services and supplies going into effect next year and how they will make it easier for many parents to provide their infants breastmilk.
Despite a significant reduction in the uninsured rate over the last decade, millions of people still lack coverage, and many people who have insurance are unable to access care because of high cost sharing. In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Rachel Schwab, Justin Giovannelli, and Kevin Lucia look at California’s recently adopted strategies to reduce and prevent uninsurance and lower cost barriers to care for marketplace enrollees.
While federal health coverage reforms remain stalled in Congress, several states are pushing forward to establish modified versions of public health insurance options. In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Christine Monahan, Justin Giovannelli, and Kevin Lucia provide an update on implementation of public option-style plans in Washington, Colorado, and Nevada.
In the proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services asked for feedback on how to promote health equity through ACA marketplace operations and plan certification standards. CHIR’s Rachel Swindle reviewed comments from states, insurers, and consumer advocates to see how they responded.
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.
