consumers

Low-Income Households and ACA Tax Policies: Benefit from Tax Credits but Paying the Penalty

Posted October 11, 2016 by CHIR Faculty

We are well into the third tax year of ACA premium tax credits and the individual shared responsibility requirement. The IRS recently released a report on 2014 income tax filings that includes data on the first year of the PTC and ISRP. We analyzed this data to look at the tax credits and payments by income brackets and found that millions of low-income tax filers benefited from the PTC in 2014 – but millions of low-income tax filers also paid the ISRP, indicating that a very vulnerable population still lacks coverage.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: Special Enrollment Periods Provide Essential Coverage During Common Life Transitions, but Many People Don’t Know They Exist

Posted September 29, 2016 by CHIR Faculty

Change in life is unavoidable: people move, get married, change jobs and have babies. Special enrollment periods (SEPs) allow people experiencing such life changes to access marketplace coverage, often with financial assistance. Unfortunately the majority of people don’t know about them. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn takes a look at SEPs, including the administration’s current approach to SEPs and the missed opportunities to raise overall awareness of them, strengthen the risk pool, and reduce the number of uninsured.

Increasing Deductibles in Employer Coverage: A Story Over a Decade in the Making

Posted September 21, 2016 by Dania Palanker

A graph has been making the rounds on the internet comparing cumulative increases in deductibles since 2011 to growth in inflation, worker earnings and health insurance premiums since it was posted as part of a Wall Street Journal blog. But the graph only tells part of the story – the part that occurred after 2011. The story of increasing deductibles in employer based health insurance is a story that is over a decade in the making.

Quality Over Quantity? New Medicaid Network Adequacy Rules Illuminate Disparities Among Insurance Program Standards

Posted September 16, 2016 by Rachel Schwab

Narrow network plans, or plans with a limited network of providers, present problems for consumers across the various coverage programs. In May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the final rule setting network adequacy standards for Medicaid and CHIP managed care plans. The new rule requires states to set quantitative standards for network adequacy; but since these standards don’t apply uniformly to other federal programs, network adequacy – and access to essential health services – varies greatly for consumers based on what program they fall under.

New Health Affairs Policy Brief Examines the Regulation of Health Plan Provider Networks

Posted July 28, 2016 by CHIR Faculty

Limited networks have become increasingly common on ACA marketplaces, comprising almost half of all offerings during the first two years of the exchanges. In a new policy brief for Health Affairs, CHIR experts Justin Giovannelli, Kevin Lucia, and Sabrina Corlette examine what the states and the federal government are doing to ensure that marketplace plan networks are adequate and transparent.

Technology’s Impact on the Way We Access Health Care Continuing to Raise Questions

Posted July 15, 2016 by CHIR Faculty

Technology is transforming how we access and receive health care through the use of telemedicine. As we previously reported, telemedicine can fill gaps in access to providers. But questions on whether and how insurers can use telemedicine to meet network adequacy standards continue to exist. CHIR’s Sandy Ahn provides a short summary of the issues.

Recent State Action: Are Formerly Vocal ACA Opponents Climbing on Board the Obamacare Bus?

Posted July 11, 2016 by JoAnn Volk

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.

New Special Enrollment Confirmation Process Effective June 17, 2016: What it Means for Consumers

Posted June 20, 2016 by CHIR Faculty

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.

Kaiser Family Foundation Survey on Assister Programs Reflects Signs of Progress – and Opportunities for Improvement

Posted June 13, 2016 by CHIR Faculty

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.

Comparing Nondiscrimination Protections under the ACA

Posted June 7, 2016 by JoAnn Volk

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.