FAQs and RFCs, Oh My!
Last week HHS issued another round of Frequently Asked Questions, addressing the Basic Health Program, and a Request for Comment on agent/broker data collection. Sabrina Corlette takes a look at both.
Tag: essential health benefits
Breaking Down the NAIC’s Comments
In comments to federal regulators on recent proposed rules, the NAIC added its voice to the chorus of stakeholders who have weighed in on some of the Affordable Care Act’s most significant protections. Katie Keith has highlights from the NAIC's four comment letters on the 2014 market reforms, essential health benefits, multi-state plans, and the rate review template.
Multi-State Plan Program Final Rule: OPM's Balancing Act
The Office of Personnel Management recently issued a final rule on the multi-state plan program in which it attempts to standardize contracting processes and state rules to, in theory, make it easier for insurers to enter new markets while limiting the extent to which multi-state plan issuers can bypass state consumer protections and preserving a level playing field in exchanges. Christine Monahan discusses how OPM has attempted to balance these competing pressures and discusses where multi-state plans may or may not have flexibility.
An Unfortunate Decision on Student Health Plan Coverage
The Administration says it wants young and healthy people to enroll in the new health insurance exchanges. Why then did they just shut a lot of young and healthy people out? Sabrina Corlette examines yesterday’s decision to effectively bar students enrolled in self-funded college or university health plans from the exchanges.
Emerging Policies on Dental Coverage for Kids
With the final rules on essential health benefits and market reforms now released, stakeholders have turned to how coverage will work for consumers. Our colleagues at the Center for Children and Families take a look at how one important set of benefits—dental care—will work for kids next year. Joe Touschner has more on some of the most important issues to watch regarding dental coverage for children.
New Guidance: Federal Regulators Allow “Collaborative Arrangements” for Enforcement
On March 15, 2013, federal regulators released guidance on how the Affordable Care Act’s new market reforms will be enforced. In a post that originally appeared on The Commonwealth Fund Blog, Katie Keith and Kevin Lucia describe how the new guidance fits into the Affordable Care Act’s enforcement framework and what the new guidance means for enforcement of the law’s most significant reforms.
Some States Consider Nondiscrimination Requirements
In implementing the Affordable Care Act, state regulators may increasingly look for ways to ensure that health insurance does not discriminate against certain groups of individuals, such as people living with HIV, older Americans, and even women. In this spirit, Katie Keith describes how Colorado and the District of Columbia each took recent steps to prohibit insurers from discriminating against enrollees based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Essential Health Benefits in the States: Selections Have Been Made but Questions Remain
In our most recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, Sabrina Corlette and CHIR colleagues examined states’ selection of an essential health benefits benchmark plan. In this blog Sabrina reviews the report’s findings and what they mean for ongoing implementation of these critical consumer protections.
Action on Multi-State Plans, But Still No Specifics
Last week the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released its draft application for Multi-State Plans. Sabrina Corlette discusses what to expect going forward and takes a look at the questions that the draft tried to answer – and those it didn't.
Pass the Stuffing: There's a lot going on in the new essential health benefit rules
Last week the Obama Administration released new, proposed rules establishing minimum standards to improve the quality of health insurance coverage. CHIR faculty member Sabrina Corlette took a peek and provides us with a quick overview.