Category: State of the States

The Affordable Care Act CO-OP Program: Facing Both Barriers and Opportunities for More Competitive Health Insurance Markets

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The recent financial troubles of some CO-OP plans created under the Affordable Care Act have sparked questions about the long-term viability of the program. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Sabrina Corlette, Kevin Lucia, Justin Giovannelli and Sean Miskell assess the current status of the CO-OP program, challenges to success, and prospects for the future.

The Latest on Special Enrollment Periods: An Assessment of State Approaches in 2014 and Update for 2015

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Special enrollment is available to individuals who experience qualifying events allowing them to enroll into marketplace coverage. A new issue brief co-authored by CHIR’s Sandy Ahn and Kevin Lucia, along with authors from the Urban Institute, found that special enrollment systems and procedures were still a work in progress in five state-based marketplaces last year. Sandy and Kevin also discuss additional SEPs available this year.

Some Insurers Cancel Noncompliant Health Plans, But Consumers Are More Informed of Coverage Options

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The media furor over health plan cancellations in the wake of the Affordable Care Act has died down, in part because federal and state rules now allow insurers to maintain their noncompliant policies until 2017. However, some insurers are choosing to discontinue them. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, Kevin Lucia, Sabrina Corlette, and Ashley Williams examine the policy and business incentives driving health plan cancellations.

Marketplace Coverage Renewals: Variation in State Approaches May Affect Consumers’ Finances

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Auto-renewal through the health insurance marketplaces is an important mechanism for consumers to avoid a gap in coverage, but variations in state and federal approaches could impact consumers’ premiums and tax credits. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts compare the renewal processes chosen by 17 state-based marketplaces and assess their impact on consumers’ finances.

State-Based Marketplaces Offer More Health Plan Choices for 2015 Coverage

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One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, in part by increasing health plan competition. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR faculty Sean Miskell, Kevin Lucia and Justin Giovannelli find that competition is in fact increasing, and consumers shopping on the state-based marketplaces have more choices among insurers than they did last year.

New Report on States’ Oversight of Health Plan Network Adequacy

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The consumer representatives to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released a report this week on state approaches to regulating and monitoring the adequacy of health plan provider networks. Sabrina Corlette provides this overview.

State Marketplace Approaches to Financing and Sustainability

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While the Affordable Care Act provided significant start-up funds for the development of the new health insurance marketplaces, by January 1, 2015 all the state-based marketplaces must be self-sustaining. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Sarah Dash, Kevin Lucia, Justin Giovannelli and Sean Miskell provide an update on states’ approaches to marketplace financing and sustainability.

Major Policy Changes Take a Backseat to IT During a Transitional Year for Health Insurance Marketplaces

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As the health insurance marketplaces prepare for the second year of operation under the Affordable Care Act, IT issues are driving many states’ decisions on whether to operate a state-based marketplace. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Sarah Dash and Kevin Lucia share findings on state IT transitions and major policy actions going into 2015.

The Next Frontier: Insurance Marketplaces That Promote Quality Improvement

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While most state-based marketplaces in 2014 are rightly focused on the operational challenges of connecting people with coverage, over time technical improvements will allow them to prioritize providing better quality, more cost-effective care to enrollees. CHIR experts Sabrina Corlette and Sarah Dash, in their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, discuss the opportunities and challenges for states working to implement the ACA’s quality improvement initiatives.

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.