We are now in the midst of the longest-ever shutdown of U.S. government agencies, resulting in closed offices, furloughed workers, and discontinued services. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette takes a look at how the shutdown is affecting the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
The 2018 midterm election results mean the U.S. House of Representatives will be under new leadership in January. Our CHIR experts get out their crystal balls and consider what this might mean for legislative action on private health insurance next year.
Last week, the Trump administration issued long-anticipated guidance regarding the ACA’s Section 1332 “innovation waiver” program. The guidance breaks dramatically with past policy and, arguably, with the statute it purports to interpret, inviting states to undermine coverage for people with preexisting conditions. CHIR’s Justin Giovannelli analyzes the guidance and its implications.
With open enrollment into the Affordable Care Act marketplaces beginning November 1st, there will be considerable divergence among states in the amount of information and personalized assistance consumers receive about coverage options. While the federally run marketplace has dramatically cut back its investments in both advertising and the Navigator program, the state-based marketplaces are making big investments in those activities. In their latest To The Point blog for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette and Rachel Schwab discuss the findings from a new survey of state-based marketplaces.
On November 1, the sixth open enrollment period begins for marketplace coverage under the Affordable Care Act. We at CHIR will soon re-launch our updated Navigator Resource Guide, which provides information on recent policy changes, a list of enrollment tools for consumers and assisters, and answers to hundreds of frequently asked questions. To learn what’s new for 2019, read our CHIRBlog summarizing the major policy changes consumers might encounter this year.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on July 10, 2018 that they would fund up to $10 million for Navigator programs in the 34 federally facilitated marketplace states in 2018, an over 80 percent cut from the program’s original funding. CMS is also encouraging applicants to educate consumers about plans that don’t meet Affordable Care Act standards. CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe explains the effects these changes could have on consumers and the market.
State officials, insurers, and consumer advocates and assisters are gearing up for a hectic 2019 enrollment season as federal uncertainty threatens the stability of the individual market. CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe dives into research about how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has affected consumers’ access to insurance coverage and care. She also looks at research on reasons behind this year’s increased premium rates and last year’s surprisingly successful Open Enrollment season.
In this month’s research round up, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe looks into analyses of the success of recent stabilization efforts, the consequences of current federal uncertainty on health insurance coverage, best practices from the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM), third-party payment programs, and why in the world hospital visits cost so much money for the privately insured.
In CHIRblog’s April installment of What We’re Reading, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe digs into reports that highlight 2018 Affordable Care Act enrollment outcomes and policies that will affect 2019, the risks of short-term health plans, the impact of the ACA’s marketplaces on individuals with chronic health conditions, and the rising prevalence of health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans.
Heading into open enrollment for 2018 marketplace coverage, experts predicted far fewer people would sign up for coverage. Despite the obstacles working against a successful open enrollment, sign-ups came close to last year’s tally: federally facilitated marketplaces (FFMs) logged 8.8 million plan selections, including close to 2.5 million new consumers, by the close of open enrollment on December 15th, nearing the 9.2 million plan selection from the previous year in just half the time. CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe and JoAnn Volk take a look at what explains the better-than-expected results.
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.
