Like other employer health plans across the commercial insurance market, state employee health plans (SEHPs) regularly face significant increases in health care costs. A new piece by CHIR faculty for Health Affairs explores how SEHPs’ use of provider-based reference pricing to constrain cost growth has been gaining traction.
The Association of Health Care Journalists has released an updated, interactive 50-state Media Guide to help journalists navigate the complexities of the U.S. health care system, offering detailed data on health insurance coverage, state policies, and regulatory agencies. Developed in partnership with Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, the guide includes a national overview, state-level resources, and essential tools for reporting on health coverage and consumer experiences.
A new proposal in New York State seeks to reduce rising outpatient care costs by implementing site-neutral payment. The bill aims to cap payments, eliminate facility fees, and protect consumers from higher costs. In her latest article for CHIRblog, Karen Davenport breaks down this new proposal.
The Biden Administration has proposed a rule to expand coverage of preventive services, including over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptives, without cost sharing. However, the proposal’s future is uncertain due to potential legal challenges and the political factors surrounding reproductive health. CHIR faculty Leila Sullivan and Amy Killelea discuss the proposal.
The Affordable Care Act mandates that health plans in the individual and small-group markets cover essential health benefits (EHB), with states setting the scope through a benchmark plan. A new brief for the Commonwealth Fund by CHIR faculty explores how states have used recent flexibility to expand EHB, address consumer needs, and advance health policy, while highlighting ongoing challenges
The 2024 election results will require concerted and aggressive efforts to preserve gains in insurance coverage, improvements in health equity, and greater health care affordability. CHIR’s faculty share thoughts on the work ahead.
While the weather may be cooling down, the research is not! This month we read about Medicare Advantage quality bonus payments, out-of-pocket drug costs for consumers, effects of enhanced premium tax credits on older adults, and strategies to increase eligibility verification and receipt of Marketplace subsidies.
More hot days mean more hot research! This month we read about the growing divergence between Medicare Advantage bids and payments, the impact of enhanced premium tax credits by race and ethnicity, and about how narrow or broad ACA marketplace physician networks really are.
A recently enacted law creates a streamlined pathway to health insurance for individuals who are found ineligible for Medi-Cal but are likely eligible for Marketplace subsidies. In a recent report, CHIR experts assess the critical policy and operational decisions to implement the program and how these choices have affected consumers’ coverage transitions.
As Medicaid unwinding draws to a close, millions of people have had to find new health coverage options, many of them through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces. Emma Walsh-Alker discusses what we know about how they have fared, and whether state efforts to smooth coverage transitions have been successful.
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.
