State Public Option Plans Are Making Progress on Reducing Consumer Costs

States remain motivated to adopt reforms that improve affordability and expand access to coverage for populations that still lack access to care. State public option–style plans are a key candidate for consideration. In a post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts provide an update on states that have established or are laying groundwork for public option–style plans.

Stakeholder Perspectives on CMS’s 2025 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters: Health Insurers and Brokers

The Biden administration will soon finalize its annual rulemaking for the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. To better understand the impact of the proposed changes, CHIR reviewed the public comments submitted by key stakeholder groups. In this first in a 3-part blog series, CHIR expert Sabrina Corlette reviews the feedback provided by health insurance companies and web-brokers.

Policy Innovations in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces

The Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces have seen record signups for 2024. Marketplaces can pursue innovative and consumer-friendly policies that bolster this crucial source of coverage. In a recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts reviewed policy decisions across state-run Marketplaces and the federally facilitated Marketplace.

Looking Under the Hood: “Enhanced” Rate Review to Improve Affordability

A handful of states are working to improve health insurance affordability by boosting their insurance department’s rate review authority and empowering regulators to look “under the hood” at the prices commercial insurance companies negotiate for health care goods and services. In a recently released report, CHIR experts share findings from a 50-state assessment of rate review programs.

Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: Post-Enrollment Issues

Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces has ended in most states, with a record number of people selecting a Marketplace plan for 2024. This week, we’re highlighting answers to common post-enrollment questions from our Navigator Resource Guide.

Proposed Rule Would Roll Back Expansion Of Association Health Plans

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule rescinding a Trump-era regulation that expanded the use of Association Health Plans (AHPs). In a post for Health Affairs Forefront, CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette takes a look at the history of AHPs and what’s at stake in the Biden administration’s proposal to roll back the 2018 rule.

Step-by-Step: Congressional Proposals Could Help Unlock Information Key to Curbing U.S. Health Care Spending

In recent years, outpatient care has contributed considerably to growth in U.S. health care spending. Efforts to curb outpatient spending have been stymied by fundamental problems connecting data on sites of care, providers, and specific charges, but a bill that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives could provide new information necessary to craft reforms and slow spending growth.

Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: Wrapping Up Open Enrollment

Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces is coming to a close. In most states, January 16 is the last day to sign up for a 2024 plan. This week, we’re highlighting frequently asked questions from CHIR’s Navigator Resource Guide concerning the end of open enrollment.

Implementing the No Surprises Act: What We Know from Early Complaint Data

The No Surprises Act (NSA) provides comprehensive protections from many of the most prevalent forms of surprise medical billing, and a new process for determining out-of-network provider reimbursement aims to control health care costs by limiting insurer payments for surprise bills. It remains to be seen if the new federal law—implemented only last year—will achieve these goals. Two recently released reports provide some of the first indicators of the NSA’s impact.

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.