Despite declining funding, enrollment through the state-based marketplaces increased nearly nine percent during the third open enrollment period. To learn what assistance and outreach strategies were most effective in attracting consumers, we surveyed marketplace officials to gain their unique insights and share major findings in our latest report.
On Friday, July 15, CHIR’s very own Kevin Lucia spoke at a briefing on ACA marketplaces put on by the Alliance for Health Reform. Mr. Lucia joined representatives from the Commonwealth Fund, the American Academy of Actuaries, and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association to discuss the outlook for federally facilitated and state-based exchanges as the fourth open enrollment period approaches in November.
State insurance legislators held their national meeting in Portland, Oregon last week, and the demise of 16 health insurance CO-OPs created under the Affordable Care Act was high on the agenda. CHIR’s own Sabrina Corlette was invited to provide legislators with testimony about the CO-OP program’s troubles. Key takeaways from the meeting – and next steps for state policymakers – are provided here.
Technology is transforming how we access and receive health care through the use of telemedicine. As we previously reported, telemedicine can fill gaps in access to providers. But questions on whether and how insurers can use telemedicine to meet network adequacy standards continue to exist. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn provides a short summary of the issues.
As the federal insurance marketplace moves forward to standardize health plan benefit designs, what lessons can be learned from the state marketplaces that have had similar policies in place since 2014? A new Georgetown report examines the experiences of four state-based marketplaces and finds they have largely failed to meet their policy goals.
As ACA opponents continue to vilify, challenge and undermine the law, four states that have been vocal opponents of the law have taken action recently to enforce federal rules, protect consumers and stabilize their markets. JoAnn Volk sums up the state action.
Sixty million people in the U.S. lack access to primary care services, partly due to a shortage of primary care physicians. Many states are responding to the crisis by expanding the scope of practice of non-MD health professionals, such as nurse practitioners. But insurers’ payment policies and resistance from the medical establishment often limit the effectiveness of those policy changes. CHIR’s legal intern Emma Chapman digs into the current debate.
The Obama Administration has announced several new strategies to boost enrollment among young adults in the health insurance marketplaces. These are helpful and important, but CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette observes they haven’t yet fixed an enrollment glitch that particularly affects adult children under age 26.
In the debate over Medicaid expansion, most of the attention has been on families in non-expansion states who are shut out of coverage. But what about those just above the poverty line who are eligible for marketplace tax credits? A new study compares their experience to those with similar incomes in Medicaid expansion states. Sean Miskell shares the findings.
As of June 17, 2016, the federally facilitated market will require consumers who have enrolled into marketplace coverage under certain special enrollments to provide verifying documents. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn summarizes the new special enrollment confirmation process and answers some questions that consumers and assisters may have.
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.
