The details of President Biden’s “Build Back Better” legislation were released on October 28. It contains dramatic changes designed to build on and strengthen the Affordable Care Act. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette reviewed the 1,600+ page bill for provisions affecting people’s access to affordable private coverage, so you don’t have to.
Federal law now requires hospitals to publish the prices they negotiate with private insurers, yet many of them are not complying. In this post for the Health Affairs Blog, CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette and Maanasa Kona and Marilyn Bartlett of the National Academy for State Health Policy discuss ways that state health benefit purchasers, such as state employee plans, can help increase hospital compliance.
The Biden administration continues to put its stamp on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces with new rules to expand enrollment and consumer assistance, increase plan oversight, and reverse several Trump administration policies. In her latest post for the State Health & Value Strategies program, CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette highlights the issues of particular importance to state marketplaces and departments of insurance.
Air ambulances are one of the largest sources of surprise medical bills. While the No Surprises Act would protect patients from balance bills from out-of-network air ambulance providers, another federal law – the Airline Deregulation Act – could raise questions about states’ authority to enforce these consumer protections. CHIR’s Madeline O’Brien and Jack Hoadley describe a federal advisory committee’s recommendations to resolve potential conflicts.
The Biden administration has proposed several policy changes designed to boost enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. In the third post of a 3-part blog series, JoAnn Volk and Nia Gooding review comments submitted by several consumer and patient advocacy groups. Prior posts reviewed comments from health insurers and state marketplace and insurance officials.
Delta Airlines made headlines by announcing it would charge unvaccinated workers an additional $200 per month in health plan premiums. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette looks into both the legality and wisdom of programs that link premiums to someone’s vaccinated status.
Air ambulances are the source of some of the largest unexpected medical bills faced by consumers. Before it passed the No Surprises Act, Congress created an advisory committee on air ambulance billing practices. CHIR’s Madeline O’Brien and JoAnn Volk take a look at this committee’s work and what it might mean for future federal policymaking.
CHIR researchers have teamed up once again with the Urban Institute to assess how federal policy is affecting the market for small business health insurance. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic was front-of-mind, but so too are coverage options exempt from the Affordable Care Act and newly available incentives to shift employees to the individual market.
In recent months, Washington, Colorado, and Nevada, have enacted public option-style laws aimed at containing costs and increasing access to health insurance coverage. In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Christine Monahan, Kevin Lucia, and Justin Giovannelli examine these efforts and their implications for federal and state policymakers.
The Biden administration has issued the first in a series of rules to implement the No Surprises Act, a sweeping law to protect patients from unexpected out-of-network medical bills. In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR’s Jack Hoadley and Kevin Lucia review the new rules and their implications for 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.
