Federal and state health care policies have begun to encourage greater investments in the social determinants of health (SDOH). Arreyellen Salyards, a recent health policy intern for CHIR, examines recent announcements by commercial insurers about their own SDOH programs.
In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, Jack Hoadley, Maanasa Kona, and Kevin Lucia explore recent state activity to enact balance billing legislation, as well as ways in which some states have used emergency powers to protect people from surprise medical bills for COVID-19-related services.
In a new report, CHIR researchers teamed up with the Urban Institute to assess trends in the individual health insurance market by talking to brokers across the country. Although the Affordable Care Act market appears to be stabilizing, many brokers report new risks for consumers.
As the COVID-19 crisis escalates, stakeholders across the health care industry are working to keep consumers healthy and provide financial assistance and flexibility to those who have lost their job or health insurance. CHIR’s Emily Curran tells us how health insurers are doing their part to alleviate consumers’ concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed and urgent interest in using telehealth to enable remote access to care across service areas and provider types. CHIR’s JoAnn Volk and Sabrina Corlette summarize federal legislation and guidance as well as actions state departments of insurance can take to encourage greater access to telehealth services in an article for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health & Value Strategies project.
During the current public health and financial crises brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACA’s health insurance marketplaces offer a crucial safety net. States that run their own marketplaces have a significant advantage in helping consumers obtain comprehensive, affordable health insurance. CHIR’s Rachel Schwab looks at some opportunities for state-based marketplaces that don’t exist for states relying on the federal marketplace.
This month, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe reviews studies that examine the capacity for states to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential cost to employers and their employees, and the achievements of the ACA.
Congress has enacted legislation that includes provisions to lower financial barriers to COVID-19 testing for privately insured individuals. However, the new law includes several loopholes that could expose consumers to unexpected medical bills. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette takes a look.
Surprise medical bills, which were already a concern for many consumers, are expected to increase because of the coronavirus crisis. While Congress should adopt a comprehensive solution for all patients, protecting those affected by coronavirus is critical and should be done quickly. In a post for the Health Affairs Blog, Jack Hoadley, Kevin Lucia, and Katie Keith propose an immediate, short-term solution that Congress could adopt now to protect patients from surprise bills due to coronavirus.
In the midst of a global pandemic, consumers continue to be sold skimpy short-term plans that may not cover necessary testing and treatment. In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, Dania Palanker and Christina Goe assess the ability of insurance regulators to understand the scope of the short-term plan market in their states and its impact on consumers’ ability to access and afford care.
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.
