aca implementation

The Affordable Care Act’s Requirements for Quality Improvement in the Health Insurance Marketplaces: What Recent Federal Action Tells Us

Posted January 7, 2015 by

The Affordable Care Act sets out several requirements for the health insurance marketplaces to encourage insurers to improve quality and deliver better value coverage. Implementation of these provisions has been slowed by the focus on other, more urgent operational priorities, but recent federal rules put plans on notice that quality improvement standards, reporting requirements, and rankings are soon coming their way. Sabrina Corlette has this overview.

Marketplace Coverage Renewals: Variation in State Approaches May Affect Consumers’ Finances

Posted December 16, 2014 by CHIR Faculty

Auto-renewal through the health insurance marketplaces is an important mechanism for consumers to avoid a gap in coverage, but variations in state and federal approaches could impact consumers’ premiums and tax credits. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts compare the renewal processes chosen by 17 state-based marketplaces and assess their impact on consumers’ finances.

MEC and MV: Keeping it All Straight When it Comes to Employer Plans

Posted December 12, 2014 by CHIR Faculty

Open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplaces overlaps this year with many employer plan open enrollment periods, which has prompted some employees to ask questions about how their offer of employer coverage may affect their eligibility for premium tax credits. CHIR’s JoAnn Volk and Sandy Ahn take a look at what consumers need to know, especially if they’re offered a plan that doesn’t offer much coverage.

New Guidance on Re-enrollment in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace

Posted December 5, 2014 by

On December 1, CMS published new guidance on the re-enrollment process for the federally facilitated marketplace. While the guidance is targeted to participating insurance companies, it contains information that is also important to Navigators and others assisting consumers through the re-enrollment process. Sabrina Corlette provides a few key takeaways.

State-Based Marketplaces Offer More Health Plan Choices for 2015 Coverage

Posted December 4, 2014 by CHIR Faculty

One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, in part by increasing health plan competition. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR faculty Sean Miskell, Kevin Lucia and Justin Giovannelli find that competition is in fact increasing, and consumers shopping on the state-based marketplaces have more choices among insurers than they did last year.

HHS Proposes EHB Rule Changes

Posted December 1, 2014 by CHIR Faculty

The federal Department of Health and Human Services recently published a proposed regulation that signals some potentially helpful changes to the requirement that health insurers cover a set of essential health benefits. Our colleague at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, Joe Touschner, offers this overview.

New Content for the Navigator Resource Guide: Get Ready for Renewals

Posted November 20, 2014 by

Last month CHIR released its Navigator Resource Guide, with background and close to 300 frequently asked questions on key health insurance issues. The Guide now has new content to help consumers navigate the renewal process for 2015. Sabrina Corlette shares some of the highlights.

New Report on States’ Oversight of Health Plan Network Adequacy

Posted November 18, 2014 by

The consumer representatives to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released a report this week on state approaches to regulating and monitoring the adequacy of health plan provider networks. Sabrina Corlette provides this overview.

A Busy November Weekend: Launch of OE2 and the NAIC Fall National Meeting

Posted November 14, 2014 by

November 15th marks the start not only of open enrollment into the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, but also of the NAIC’s Fall National Meeting. And many of the same issues on the mind of health insurance consumers are also priorities for state insurance department officials. Sabrina Corlette will be attending the meeting and has this preview.

Consumers Should Resist the Urge to Do Nothing and Renew Coverage through the Federal Marketplace

Posted November 13, 2014 by CHIR Faculty

Saturday, November 15th marks the start of open enrollment in the ACA’s health insurance marketplaces. Of the 9.9 million that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects will enroll into 2015 coverage, over 7 million of them are current enrollees who need to have their coverage renewed. In a new issue brief, our Center for Children and Families colleague, Tricia Brooks, outlines what the renewal and eligibility re-determination process is likely to look like for those in the federally facilitated marketplaces.