Category: Health reform
The Affordable Care Act: Efforts to Address Barriers to Health Equity
Disparities in health insurance coverage and accessing health care continue to be a challenge in the United States. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made impressive strides to reduce overall health disparity by ensuring that health equity exists with health insurance coverage and accessing care. Current CHIR intern and guest blogger, Julia Embry, summarizes some of the ACA’s progress to address health equity in the United States.
The Ever-Shrinking Pilot to Inform Consumers About Health Plans’ Network Size
The agency running the federal health insurance marketplace announced on September 30 they would provide information on the size of health plans’ provider networks in just four states “at some point” during the coming open enrollment season. This is a dramatic roll back from the anticipated availability of the system in 34 states in 2017. Sabrina Corlette takes a look at the latest guidance and what it means for consumers.
Hand-Wringing Over the Affordable Care Act Forgets How Very Far We Have Come
The latest round of news about insurance company exits and price increases in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces has sparked more hand-wringing about the future of the law. But to truly assess how the law is working, we need to remember where we were, before the ACA, and how far we have come. Sabrina Corlette takes us down memory lane.
Future of Children’s Health Coverage Series Brief #2: Rethinking Pediatric Dental Coverage
Inadequate coverage of children’s dental health can lead to serious health problems and long-term consequences by impairing children’s ability to eat, sleep and perform well in school. In their latest in a series of issue briefs on the future of children’s health coverage, Georgetown’s Center for Children & Families examines the state of children’s dental health coverage and provides recommendations to policymakers to help ensure kids get the care they need.
Want to Know Whether Your Health Plan’s Network is Narrow or Broad? You’ll Need to Wait Another Year
New Report Recommends Policies to Promote Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs
Access to prescription drugs is critically important to millions of individuals and families nationwide, but too often cost places them out of reach. At the NAIC’s summer national meeting, the consumer representatives to the NAIC released a report on state and federal regulatory options for promoting access to prescription drugs. JoAnn Volk shares highlights here.
As Administration Reviews Comments on Short-Term Insurance Plans, Analysis Finds Gaps in Coverage
The Obama Administration is reviewing feedback on its proposed rule to clamp down on the sale of short-term health plans. If finalized, the rule could help stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces – and help protect consumers from being duped into buying plans that don’t meet their health needs. CHIR’s Dania Palanker shares what she found in a review of what short-term plans actually cover, as well as the mix of industry responses to the Administration’s proposed regulation.
Stabilizing the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces: Lessons from Medicare
In the late 1990s, Medicare officials faced decisions by insurers to cancel nearly half of their Medicare Advantage contracts. In a new issue brief for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Georgetown experts Jack Hoadley and Sabrina Corlette assess the policies and strategies adopted to manage instability in the Medicare Advantage and Part D markets and whether they can be used to stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Key takeaways from that issue brief are shared here.