The Trump administration recently issued guidance to health insurers, determining that they are not required to cover workplace or public health surveillance testing for COVID-19. In a recent post for the State Health & Value Strategies project, Sabrina Corlette assesses what this latest federal interpretation means for states’ efforts to combat the pandemic.
Many Americans are pinning their hopes on a vaccine to bring COVID-19 to heel. But, as George Washington University and CHIR experts outline in a new blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, our patchwork quilt system of public and private insurance will likely be insufficient to achieve the necessary population-wide immunity.
Several states ask for – and publicly post – health insurers’ proposed 2021 premium rates in May and June. These early rate filings can provide hints about how insurers are responding to market trends, policy changes, and emerging drivers of health care costs. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette took a deep dive into insurers’ actuarial memos to find out how they’re thinking about COVID-19, repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate penalty, and more.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS has published a proposed rule that would grant tax advantages reserved for insurance to individuals’ spending on health care sharing ministries, raising real questions about using federal funds to promote a coverage option that fails to provide consumers with financial protection for health care expenses. JoAnn Volk walks through the proposed rule and its potential implications for consumers.
As the nation combats the biggest threat to its public health and economy that any of us have seen in our lifetimes, the key to recovery will lie in widespread, universally accessible testing for COVID-19. In a recent blog post for Health Affairs, CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette argues that our traditional, insurance-based model of financing health care services won’t work if we want to use testing to help us get back to work, schools, and community life.
The $175 billion Provider Relief Fund prohibits participating providers from balance billing COVID-19 patients, regardless of their source of coverage. While this could help many patients avoid surprise medical bills, there remain several questions about the scope of protection this will provide. In an update to his April 30, 2020 post, Georgetown expert Jack Hoadley takes a look at the fine print of the program as well as new guidance from HHS.
Federal and state health care policies have begun to encourage greater investments in the social determinants of health (SDOH). Arreyellen Salyards, a recent health policy intern for CHIR, examines recent announcements by commercial insurers about their own SDOH programs.
In a new report, CHIR researchers teamed up with the Urban Institute to assess trends in the individual health insurance market by talking to brokers across the country. Although the Affordable Care Act market appears to be stabilizing, many brokers report new risks for consumers.
Congress has enacted legislation that includes provisions to lower financial barriers to COVID-19 testing for privately insured individuals. However, the new law includes several loopholes that could expose consumers to unexpected medical bills. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette takes a look.
High profile contract disputes between insurers and providers appear to be on the rise, raising the risks of disruptions for patients and unexpected out-of-network billing. In a new report for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHIR experts examine best practices among state regulators and insurers to protect consumers and provide recommended policies and procedures to mitigate risks when a provider leaves a health plan network.
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.
