…include essential community providers. Standard health plans that are insurer based (and not health maintenance organization or provider network based), also have to meet an 85 percent medical loss ratio standard. What’s next? We’ll continue to watch Minnesota and New York and report back on how their Basic Health Programs are taking shape. We’ll also be on the lookout for…
…changes: First, they must apply for coverage under Medicaid, knowing they won’t be found eligible. Second, upon receiving their denial from the state Medicaid agency, they must apply for a hardship exemption. Third, once their income changes, they must notify the Marketplace, and apply for a special enrollment period based on the loss of their hardship exemption. Needless to say,…
…so consumers can benefit from a real one-stop-shopping experience and don’t need to click back and forth between different websites. It’s also important to remember that the effectiveness of any of these tools is only as good as their inputs. As we discussed in our December 2013 report for the Commonwealth Fund, a number of state-based marketplaces have taken steps…
…after September 24, 2014. I pay more for my plan because I’m a smoker. If I stop smoking after I sign up, will my rates go down? Your insurer doesn’t have to lower your rates to reflect your new non-smoker status until you renew your coverage. I got a letter saying my employer plan didn’t meet the medical loss ratio…
…and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) recently proposed giving insurers relief on the ACA’s medical loss ratio (MLR) requirement, I didn’t have strong objections. The MLR requirement, often called the 80/20 rule, is a provision of the ACA limiting how much premium revenue an insurer can devote to profits and administrative costs (20 percent in the individual and small employer markets and…
…a drug used to treat depression) many patients would be forced to stop treatment. Does the ACA allow for such an outcome? It appears that it may. Per the EHB rule, individual and small group plans must cover at least the greater of one drug in every U.S. Pharmacopeia category and class or the same number of prescription drugs in…
…or more cancer diagnoses than average. Risk corridors (or risk sharing) involve creation of a fund so that plans with unusually high gains pay back some of those gains and those with unusually high losses are partially compensated. These measures have been in use for Part D for nine years. So how has this system worked in that program? The…
…plans will meet minimum standards for benefits and cost-sharing – no more swiss cheese coverage. State and Federal Regulators Should Make Sure Consumers Get the Right Information – and Act to Stop Any Illegal Cherry Picking State insurance departments have the primary responsibility to ensure that insurance companies are not targeting sicker enrollees for cancellations. They can also provide guidance…
This blog originally appeared as a column in the Indianapolis Business Journal and is re-printed here in its entirety. Battles over the Affordable Care Act have raged since President Obama signed it into law in March 2010—and it’s time they stop. As of this writing, open enrollment for plans offered through the federal Marketplace, the site available to people in…
…Children’s Health Insurance Program—through the marketplace. Achieving the vision for marketplaces as a seamless one-stop shop for obtaining coverage will largely depend on new IT systems that operationalize numerous policy and logistical decisions, provide real-time eligibility assessments, enroll people in appropriate coverage, and ensure premiums are paid correctly. Getting these systems right—under very tight deadlines—is an enormous task. Like all…
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.
