Access to prescription drugs is critically important to millions of individuals and families nationwide, but too often cost places them out of reach. At the NAIC’s summer national meeting, the consumer representatives to the NAIC released a report on state and federal regulatory options for promoting access to prescription drugs. JoAnn Volk shares highlights here.
The Obama Administration is reviewing feedback on its proposed rule to clamp down on the sale of short-term health plans. If finalized, the rule could help stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces – and help protect consumers from being duped into buying plans that don’t meet their health needs. CHIR’s Dania Palanker shares what she found in a review of what short-term plans actually cover, as well as the mix of industry responses to the Administration’s proposed regulation.
In the late 1990s, Medicare officials faced decisions by insurers to cancel nearly half of their Medicare Advantage contracts. In a new issue brief for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Georgetown experts Jack Hoadley and Sabrina Corlette assess the policies and strategies adopted to manage instability in the Medicare Advantage and Part D markets and whether they can be used to stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Key takeaways from that issue brief are shared here.
In the waning days of the Obama Administration, Affordable Care Act regulations continue to trickle out. A recent one from the Internal Revenue Service feels a little like a solution in search of a problem. JoAnn Volk takes a look.
A new issue brief published by the Commonwealth Fund and authored by CHIR’s newest faculty member, Dania Palanker, examines exclusions in insurance policies sold on the ACA marketplaces and finds that several have a disproportionate impact on women, limiting their access to care. Dania shares some highlights.
The administration recently issued a proposal to smooth renewals for consumers affected by insurance company exits from the health insurance marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Wisconsin, which has been slow to warm to the ACA, is objecting on grounds that it violates principles of “consumer choice.” CHIR’s Sandy Ahn breaks down Wisconsin’s objection and contends the administration’s proposal not only protects consumer choice, but ensures continuous health insurance coverage for consumers.
We at CHIR are excited to announce the arrival of Dania Palanker, a nationally recognized expert on private insurance and benefit design. Please join us in welcoming Dania to our team.
The Justice Department just stepped in to prevent two health insurance mergers. The health care market consolidation trend isn’t new – insurers and provider groups alike just keep getting larger. But what does it mean for consumers? CHIR’s legal intern Emma Chapman examines the evidence.
Small-business owners face unique challenges covering their employees; to lower barriers and increase options, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) created the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). In a new blog published by The Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Emily Curran, Sabrina Corlette, and Kevin Lucia evaluate the current state of these marketplaces three years into implementation.
Limited networks have become increasingly common on ACA marketplaces, comprising almost half of all offerings during the first two years of the exchanges. In a new policy brief for Health Affairs, CHIR experts Justin Giovannelli, Kevin Lucia, and Sabrina Corlette examine what the states and the federal government are doing to ensure that marketplace plan networks are adequate and transparent.
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.
