Tag: essential health benefits
Eliminating Essential Health Benefits Will Shift Financial Risk Back to Consumers
In a new article published on The Commonwealth Fund’s To The Point site, CHIR experts Dania Palanker, JoAnn Volk, and Justin Giovannelli look at the individual health insurance market before the Essential Health Benefits and the financial risk consumers will bear if we return to a market without benefit protections.
Progress on Mental Health Coverage Could Be Gutted by ACA Repeal
Repealing The ACA Could Worsen The Opioid Epidemic
As our country grapples with an “unprecedented opioid epidemic,” Congress is taking steps to take away an important tool to fight it — the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a post for the Health Affairs blog, CHIR expert Dania Palanker and Urban Institute researchers Lisa Clemans-Cope and Jane Wishner assess policies and programs under the ACA that have helped tackle the opioid crisis and what could be lost if they are repealed.
From Acne to EcZema: The Return of Medical Underwriting Puts Millions at Risk for Losing Coverage or Higher Premiums
Medical underwriting, outlawed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a practice used by insurance companies to assess a consumer’s health status. In the event of an ACA repeal, millions of people could lose coverage, pay higher premiums, or receive inadequate benefits that exclude essential health services, all based on a pre-existing condition. While many of us don’t see ourselves as falling under that category, the list of health conditions that qualify you for the chopping block may surprise you.
New Commonwealth Fund Brief Examines Exclusions in Health Insurance Plans that Place Women’s Health at Risk
A new issue brief published by the Commonwealth Fund and authored by CHIR’s newest faculty member, Dania Palanker, examines exclusions in insurance policies sold on the ACA marketplaces and finds that several have a disproportionate impact on women, limiting their access to care. Dania shares some highlights.
Comparing Nondiscrimination Protections under the ACA
CHIR Expert Testifies Before U.S. House Committee on Affordable Care Act “Alternatives”
Taking a Look at ACA Non-Discrimination Rules: When Does Medical Management Cross the Line?
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.
States Revisit Essential Health Benefit Requirements, but Have Little Data on Consumers’ Experiences
Federal Affordable Care Act rules require the states to revisit the standard scope of benefits for individual and small business health plans – called essential health benefits or EHB – and determine whether revisions are needed. In a new blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts examine how the states approached this task, and what it might mean for consumers.