As ACA opponents continue to vilify, challenge and undermine the law, four states that have been vocal opponents of the law have taken action recently to enforce federal rules, protect consumers and stabilize their markets. JoAnn Volk sums up the state action.
As of June 17, 2016, the federally facilitated market will require consumers who have enrolled into marketplace coverage under certain special enrollments to provide verifying documents. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn summarizes the new special enrollment confirmation process and answers some questions that consumers and assisters may have.
Assister programs and brokers play an integral role of navigating consumers through the marketplace enrollment process. Kaiser Family Foundation’s recent survey of these stakeholders indicates these programs will continue to be needed given the knowledge gaps that still exist among consumers and the high proportion of consumers who seek help with renewal. Current legal intern and guest blogger, Emma Chapman (Georgetown JD/MPP, expected 2018), summarizes the main findings of the survey.
HHS released the final Section 1557 rule, completing the suite of non-discrimination rules that constitute some of the most dramatic recent changes in health insurance regulation. JoAnn Volk looks at how the rules stack up in protecting consumers with pre-existing conditions.
The ACA prohibits benefit limits and cost sharing that discriminate against individuals based on health status and other factors, but federal rules also stress that insurers can continue to use reasonable medical management, which would allow benefit limits based on certain circumstances. JoAnn Volk looks at what this may mean for regulators and consumers trying to tell the difference.
The NAIC held its Spring Meeting earlier this month and looked at SEPs, balance billing, risk adjustment and more. JoAnn Volk sums up the meeting and looks ahead to work to come.
Florida is the latest state to enact legislation protecting its residents for unexpected medical bills or surprise bills. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn, Jack Hoadley and Sabrina Corlette summarize the key components of this consumer facing law.
There’s no question the ACA has been successful in reducing the number of uninsured. But what has that coverage meant for helping more people obtain affordable health care services and attain financial security? CHIR researchers visited 3 diverse communities to find out. JoAnn Volk reports on a new CHIR study that tells the story.
Health plans have been increasingly narrowing their provider networks, raising concerns about gaps in access to services for consumers, particularly in areas with provider shortages. Could telemedicine be used to help fill those gaps? CHIR authors say not yet and summarizes key findings from a new report published in partnership with the Urban Institute and with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
When the administration finalized Marketplace regulations for 2017 and beyond earlier this week, it officially expanded roles for Navigators. While much of what CHIRblog had previously described under the proposed rule from November has been retained in the final rules, Sandy Ahn provides a brief update of the additional Navigator duties.
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.
