When One Young Person’s Life Took a Detour, the ACA Provided Help along the Way

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An energetic college senior found himself on a life detour when he was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma – and almost immediately confronted with a maze of insurance denials and medical bills, until he was able to enroll in one of the high risk pools created under the Affordable Care Act. JoAnn Volk documents the story of Kalwis Lo, now 24 and looking forward to a lifetime of secure, meaningful coverage, thanks to the ACA.

A Story of Promise and Peril: OIG’s Review of the new CO-OPs

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The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General recently examined the progress of the new Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans (CO-OPs), created under the ACA. Their report shows that the CO-OPs are mostly meeting key milestones, but also face some tough challenges. Sabrina Corlette takes a closer look.

Why Should Health Insurance Exchanges Drive Higher-Quality Health Care?

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The Affordable Care Act requires the Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) participating in health insurance exchanges to report on quality measures and implement quality improvement strategies. In December, HHS issued a Request for Information Regarding Health Care Quality for Exchanges in preparation for implementing these initiatives. In this blog, Sarah Dash provides a real-life illustration of why these quality improvement efforts are needed.

Shining a Light on Health Insurance: Senate Commerce Committee Examines Progress, Challenges

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Health insurance is a complicated product that consumers have difficulty understanding, a common theme throughout Wednesday’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on “The Power of Transparency: Giving Consumers the Information They Need to Make Smart Choices in the Health Insurance Market.” Fortunately, new tools are already available to help consumers shop for and compare coverage, and more will become available as Affordable Care Act implementation continues to roll out.

What Do You Know About Health Care Sharing Ministries?

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A number of states have acted in recent years to exempt health care sharing ministries from traditional insurance market rules. Katie Dunton examines this trend, the implications under the Affordable Care Act, and the impact on consumers.

Rate Review 2.0: The Next Generation

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Last week the Administration released its final rule implementing the ACA's insurance market reforms. Many of these provisions have generated deserved attention for the important protections they'll bring to consumers. Getting less attention, but just as important, are the rule's rate review provisions. Sabrina Corlette takes a look.

Diane Rehm Show Takes a Look at Workplace Wellness Programs

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The Diane Rehm show took a look this week at workplace wellness programs – what they are, how they’re working and how they may change under the Affordable Care Act. JoAnn Volk was asked to participate to discuss consumers’ concerns with these programs, and she shares some of the key highlights here.

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.