…a lesson to those wondering whether broader insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act can be sustained over a decade. It also shows that a program born in political controversy can gain bipartisan and popular support. Editor’s Note: This is a lightly edited version of a post originally published on the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families’ Say Ahhh!…
…Johnson Foundation decided to reach out to key stakeholders – insurance companies, brokers, and state insurance regulators – and ask them what they are observing on the ground. We spoke to these stakeholders in 5 states, Arkansas, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Vermont, where early data suggest that enrollment in the small group market is declining at a faster pace…
…facing. Two of the directors testifying come from states – Oregon and Hawaii – that used state technology for eligibility and enrollment at the outset, but chose to shift to Healthcare.gov after early IT stumbles. States have always had choices to make when it comes to implementing the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces. At the threshold, they’ve had to…
…the MIA to get involved. During Friday’s hearing, residents who were balance billed described aggressive strategies by air ambulance companies to recoup payment, from weekly calls to threats of liens on their home. This was not the first time that Maryland has attempted to tackle costly balance billing by air ambulance services; in 2006, the Maryland Health Care Commission issued…
…post for the Commonwealth Fun, Sean Miskell, Justin Giovannelli, and Kevin Lucia discuss why state-based marketplaces should report comprehensive enrollment data and illustrate what kinds of data the Marketplaces currently provide. They argue that more and better data could only help marketplaces and stakeholders cover more people and ensure that consumers are getting the coverage that is right for them…
…understaffing remains, leaving tracking, analysis, and compliance efforts likely not receiving sufficient attention. The federal rate review grants will expire soon, further reducing states’ oversight capacity. Increased funding would also allow for more robust data reporting requirements and improved transparency. These steps will take significant funding, but the report offers several suggestions for ways to pay for these improvements to…
…protections that apply to insurance companies and products. Before enactment of the ACA, state benefit mandates, rating rules, and requirements to offer or continue coverage varied quite widely. Proponents of across state lines bills argue that this state-to-state variation in standards hinders the competitiveness of health insurance markets and limits the choices available to consumers. Current proposals generally begin with…
…individuals in an inconsistency period. Improve communication with individuals with data-matching issues. This means improving both the content and specificity of the notices and translated taglines and also providing translated notices based on HHS’s LEP guidance. It also means providing more types of communication – like phone or text messages – and not relying only on paper mail to communicate….
…(S. 1099), but one dissenter is Mike Kreidler, Washington’s Insurance Commissioner and one of the witnesses for the Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. Commissioner Kreidler believes the ACA provision should be allowed to go into effect, arguing that a critical goal of the ACA was to reform the small group market to provide small employers with a minimum set of…
…nearly two-decades-old model act governing network adequacy standards for state-regulated plans. The work group had hoped to have an update to share at the August meeting, but they just missed that deadline. A revised version was posted September 1st and is open for comments until September 22nd. The subgroup has asked that comments be limited to technical changes – those…
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