New improvements to healthcare.gov are making it easier for consumers to report life changes, correct errors, and change plans. Recent guidance from the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight details the site’s new functionality. Sabrina Corlette takes a look.
The Congressional Budget Office’s release of new numbers on the ACA’s impact on employment sparked attack and counter attack among opponents and supporters of the law. But CHIR blogger Sabrina Corlette noticed that the CBO’s projections suggest something we at CHIR have suspected and written about for a while: the beginning of the end of job lock.
Now that 2014 is here, the ACA’s individual mandate is in effect. In the last few months the Administration has issued some more guidance about how the mandate works, and our colleague Joe Touschner at Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families provides this update.
States have taken substantially varying actions to implement and enforce the Affordable Care Act’s three major components designed to expand health insurance coverage and protect consumers—health insurance market reforms, health insurance marketplaces, and Medicaid expansion—according to a new report prepared for The Commonwealth Fund. Kevin Lucia summarizes the findings and what states’ varying approaches to implementation means for consumers.
A trio of Republican Senators have introduced legislation repealing the Affordable Care Act and detailing alternative reforms to the health care system. However, as noted in this blog by Edwin Park of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the bill rolls back important insurance reforms, makes coverage less affordable for low income people, and hobbles the Medicaid program.
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act are latching onto the law’s “3Rs” (risk corridors, risk adjustment, and reinsurance) as a “bailout” for insurers. Yet one of the models for the 3Rs is the Medicare Part D drug benefit, where these programs have been working for years to help stabilize premiums. Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Jack Hoadley provides some context – and strong evidence that the 3Rs are in place to protect beneficiaries and taxpayers – not bail out health plans.
Millions of people are enrolling in health insurance coverage, thanks to the ACA. But one congressional representative recently decided to go without any health plan at all. CHIR blogger Sabrina Corlette examines the reasoning behind his decision – and the financial risks he may be facing.
Shopping for and selecting a new health coverage plan can be challenging for many consumers. One government program – Medicare Part D – recently announced a new policy to make the process of selecting a prescription drug plan easier for beneficiaries. Sabrina Corlette compares the Medicare approach to that taken by the health insurance marketplaces – and shares new CHIR research on state actions to simplify consumers’ shopping experiences.
The Affordable Care Act is designed to expand access to affordable and adequate health insurance, improve the quality and efficiency of care, and constrain rising health costs. While the closely watched insurance marketplaces are key to these efforts, among the most promising provisions is the law’s new transparency framework. In this latest in a series of blogs for the Commonwealth Fund, Justin Giovannelli, Kevin Lucia and Sarah Dash take a look at one important but overlooked tool.
The start of 2014 marks the transition to new health plans that must meet ACA standards for adequacy and affordability. But, as with any transition, there can be disruptions, particularly for people who are in the middle of treatment or need drugs that may not be on a new plan’s formulary. HHS has recently released fact sheets and an interim final rule to help consumers and health plans make a smooth transition. JoAnn Volk has this overview – and answers some common consumer questions.
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.
