Tag: ACA enrollment

What’s New for 2024 Marketplace Enrollment?

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The annual open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace coverage kicks off November 1 in most states. A number of new and ongoing policy changes will impact the Marketplace in 2024, including special enrollment opportunities tied to the Medicaid “unwinding,” continuing enhanced financial assistance, and administrative flexibilities designed to reduce barriers to enrollment. CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker summarizes these and other recent policies that consumers may encounter this year.

Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: What to Know About Off-marketplace Plans

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Although the deadline to enroll in a marketplace plan beginning January 1 has passed in most states, Open Enrollment is still ongoing. As consumers look for an affordable health plan, it can be tempting to search for plans online, which may lead people to products sold outside of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplace. This week, as a part of CHIR’s weekly Navigator Resource Guide series, we’ve highlighted FAQs discussing some of the pitfalls of buying a plan off-marketplace.

January Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

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In our newest monthly roundup of health policy research, CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker reviews studies on the potential of personalized phone outreach to boost marketplace enrollment, trends in the small-group health insurance market, and the Congressional Budget Office’s latest report comparing how much commercial insurers and Medicare pay for health services.

November Research Round Up: What We’re Reading

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This month, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe dug into studies on health care financing equity, insurer and consumer participation in the individual market, consumer plan decision-making, and access to specialty providers.

What’s New for 2020 Marketplace Enrollment?

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On November 1, the seventh open enrollment period begins for marketplace coverage under the Affordable Care Act. We at CHIR are tracking several policy changes that could affect marketplace enrollment and plan affordability in 2020, including: changes to health reimbursement arrangements, new direct enrollment pathways, and recent court rulings on association health plans and the public charge rule. To learn what’s new for 2020, read our CHIRBlog summarizing the major policy changes consumers might encounter this year.

As Maryland Charts a New Course for Lowering Barriers to Coverage, Feds Could Raise Them

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Maryland is implementing a program that offers a new, easy way to enroll in comprehensive and affordable health insurance. At the same time, the federal government is considering ending auto renewal in the marketplaces, which facilitates millions of enrollments each year. CHIR’s Rachel Schwab takes a look at Maryland’s new program, and how state and federal enrollment policy can impact consumers’ access to coverage.

Swimming against the Tide: Policies in State-Based Marketplace States Help Counter Negative Trends in Uninsurance Rates

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The latest U.S. Census data show the uninsured rate for nonelderly adults is rising,  including among middle- and higher-income people who do not qualify for Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. Such an increase is partly attributable to policies implemented by the Trump administration to undermine the ACA. CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe explains that when it comes to individual market enrollment, however, national numbers mask significant differences in state-to-state performance.

August Research Round Up: What We’re Reading

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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.

ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment Numbers Reveal the Impact of State-Level Policy and Operational Choices on Performance

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During the last open enrollment period, the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces faced a number of headwinds, including federal policy changes predicted to curb enrollment. Given myriad obstacles to enrollment efforts, it came as no surprise that overall marketplace plan selections dropped slightly this year. But a deeper dive into enrollment trends reveals that most state-based marketplaces outperformed the federally facilitated marketplace. In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Rachel Schwab and Sabrina Corlette unpack data from the recent open enrollment period to see how the marketplaces performed during a turbulent time, finding that certain policy and operational decisions were associated with better results.

Proposed Rule on Basic Health Program Impedes States’ Progress

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Recently, CMS issued a proposed rule modifying the federal funding methodology for the Basic Health Program (BHP) for 2019 and 2020. Under the proposal, technical changes could cause participating states to lose $300 million in federal funding. While funding for the programs is being debated, we checked in on how Minnesota and New York’s BHPs are faring amidst federal uncertainty.

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.