This year several states have taken an increasingly active role in expanding health insurance coverage, overseeing their insurance markets, and protecting consumers. Perhaps no state did more in 2019 than Colorado, which enacted a dizzying array of health insurance bills. CHIR’s Rachel Schwab takes a look in this installment of States Leaning In.
This August, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe summarized helpful resources on premiums and cost-sharing for working families, interventions to increase enrollment, the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on coverage gaps, and surprise billing prevalence.
Over the last few months, state officials have increasingly acted to warn consumers about the potential risks of enrolling in health care sharing ministries (HCSMs). These efforts have ranged from educating consumers on HCSMs to initiating legal action against fraudulent practices. While some consumers may find value in HCSMs, recent actions by Aliera Healthcare provide one example of how entities may use HCSMs’ unregulated status to skirt oversight and take advantage of consumers.
In supplemental briefings to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Department of Justice recently proposed that the Affordable Care Act be struck down in the eighteen plaintiff states bringing suit in Texas v. United States, but upheld in all other states. CHIR’s Emily Curran, Dania Palanker, and Sabrina Corlette explain why this “solution” would upend our system of employer-based coverage and is illogical given the ACA’s national reforms.
Air ambulance charges are a significant source of surprise out-of-network bills for many patients, with charges running into 5 figures. States have been frustrated in their efforts to protect consumers in this context due to a federal law preempting regulation of air carrier prices, including air ambulances. However, the state of Wyoming may have hit on a unique solution – effectively making air ambulance a public utility. Will it work? CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette takes a look.
As August winds to a close, Georgetown CHIR’s faculty are focused not on pumpkin lattes and back-to-school clothes but on health insurance. The Affordable Care Act’s 7th open enrollment season is just around the corner and we’re gearing up to re-launch an updated and improved Navigator Resource Guide. The Guide, which includes hundreds of FAQs about marketplace eligibility, available coverage options, and post-enrollment issues, will be updated to reflect several changes in federal health policy.
In July, a federal district court judge upheld the Trump administration’s rule expanding availability of short-term, limited duration insurance, or short-term plans, which do not have to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s consumer protections. With the help of CHIR experts, Community Catalyst has published another resource for state advocates and policymakers, providing an overview of short-term plans, insight on unscrupulous sales practices that leave consumers at risk, and state regulatory options.
This July, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe reviewed new studies on coverage gains for workers, the evolution of Accountable Care Organizations, and the effects of the Affordable Care Act’s Medical Loss Ratio rule.
Next year, new Trump administration rules will allow employers to offer their employees an HRA to buy individual market coverage instead of a traditional group health plan. Because of an obscure provision of the tax code, many employees will be required to use the new accounts to shop for a plan outside of the ACA’s marketplaces, where they’ll face aggressive marketing of products that do not have to comply with the ACA’s consumer protections. Rachel Schwab looks at this perfect storm that puts workers at risk of ending up in the wrong plan.
The Trump administration recently published final rules expanding employers’ use of Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) for employees to purchase individual market insurance. CHIR’s JoAnn Volk assesses the final rule and its implications for employers, employees, and the individual market in an updated post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To The Point blog.
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.
