New Guidance on Re-enrollment in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace

On December 1, CMS published new guidance on the re-enrollment process for the federally facilitated marketplace. While the guidance is targeted to participating insurance companies, it contains information that is also important to Navigators and others assisting consumers through the re-enrollment process. Sabrina Corlette provides a few key takeaways.

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

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.

HHS Proposes EHB Rule Changes

The federal Department of Health and Human Services recently published a proposed regulation that signals some potentially helpful changes to the requirement that health insurers cover a set of essential health benefits. Our colleague at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, Joe Touschner, offers this overview.

New Content for the Navigator Resource Guide: Get Ready for Renewals

Last month CHIR released its Navigator Resource Guide, with background and close to 300 frequently asked questions on key health insurance issues. The Guide now has new content to help consumers navigate the renewal process for 2015. Sabrina Corlette shares some of the highlights.

New Report on States’ Oversight of Health Plan Network Adequacy

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.

A Busy November Weekend: Launch of OE2 and the NAIC Fall National Meeting

November 15th marks the start not only of open enrollment into the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, but also of the NAIC’s Fall National Meeting. And many of the same issues on the mind of health insurance consumers are also priorities for state insurance department officials. Sabrina Corlette will be attending the meeting and has this preview.

Consumers Should Resist the Urge to Do Nothing and Renew Coverage through the Federal Marketplace

Saturday, November 15th marks the start of open enrollment in the ACA’s health insurance marketplaces. Of the 9.9 million that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects will enroll into 2015 coverage, over 7 million of them are current enrollees who need to have their coverage renewed. In a new issue brief, our Center for Children and Families colleague, Tricia Brooks, outlines what the renewal and eligibility re-determination process is likely to look like for those in the federally facilitated marketplaces.

The Family Glitch Persists, Affordability Measure Increases to 9.56% in OE2

With open enrollment into the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces just around the corner, one trouble spot continues to be the so-called “family glitch,” in which spouses and dependents of individuals with access to employer-based coverage are ineligible for premium tax credits, even if that employer coverage is unaffordable to them. In her latest blog post, our Center for Children and Families colleague, Tricia Brooks, discusses how the family glitch will soon be even more difficult for families to overcome.

State Marketplace Approaches to Financing and Sustainability

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.

The ACA Hit List for the New Congress: A Prescription for Big Premium Hikes

The recent election brings us a new Congress and a new leadership dedicated to repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But instead of pushing for full repeal, the likely new Senate Majority leader has said he would focus on rolling back only the provisions he’s identified as unpopular, such as the individual mandate. Sabrina Corlette takes a look at why he can’t have his cake and eat it too.

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.