Last month CHIR stayed cool indoors to catch up on the latest in health policy research. In July, we read studies that assessed policies to increase insurance coverage rates and forecasted insurance coverage and health expenditures for the next decade.
While there is some movement toward improved health care provider ownership transparency at the federal level and in some states, more attention is warranted given increasingly complex and obscured provider ownership structures and the impact they can have on health care prices, access, and quality. In a recent piece for Health Affairs Forefront, CHIR experts Stacey Pogue and Nadia Stovicek analyze efforts to improve ownership transparency at the state and federal levels.
Over the past 30 years, hospitals and physician practices have been merging at an accelerated pace, and as a result, they have been able to command higher prices for their services. A recent report by CHIR Faculty discusses federal and state mechanisms to address provider consolidation, and what can be done to strengthen them.
On Tuesday, May 21st, Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms held the final of three events in its series on the Futures of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance. Event speakers Stacy Sanders, Erin Fuse Brown, David Seltz and Charles Miller discussed competition in health care from the federal and state perspectives.
The annual open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace coverage kicks off November 1 in most states. A number of new and ongoing policy changes will impact the Marketplace in 2024, including special enrollment opportunities tied to the Medicaid “unwinding,” continuing enhanced financial assistance, and administrative flexibilities designed to reduce barriers to enrollment. CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker summarizes these and other recent policies that consumers may encounter this year.
As we fall into autumn weather, CHIR continues to keep up with the latest health policy research. In September, we read about trends in individual market enrollment, mental health care networks available through the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Marketplace, and employers’ ability to negotiate lower prices for health care services.
CHIR’s summer reading list includes the latest health policy literature. In July, we read about the disparities in medical debt burdens, policy interventions to reduce choice errors in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace, and the affordability of Marketplace health insurance under subsidy expansion.
Along with the cherry blossoms, new health policy research was in full bloom this month. In addition to filling out our March Madness brackets, the CHIR team reviewed studies on health insurance rates during the pandemic, how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) impacted women’s health coverage, and consumer access to high-quality marketplace plans.
The federal government has taken a series of actions to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid, and the Biden administration has announced its intent to do more in this arena. Stakeholders have aided federal policy efforts by suggesting administrative options for increasing access to affordable, comprehensive health insurance and promoting health equity. In her latest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, Georgetown’s Katie Keith identifies thirteen high-priority administrative policies to strengthen the ACA and Medicaid and evaluates their current status.
We’re a week into Affordable Care Act marketplace open enrollment, and it looks like the three newest state-based marketplaces, Kentucky, Maine, and New Mexico, are off to a solid start. The transition away from the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov, has taken time, effort, and an up-front investment in the new state-run platforms and other SBM infrastructure. CHIR’s Rachel Swindle takes a look at some of the challenges and opportunities for states running their own marketplaces.
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.
