Health reform advocates experienced a win last month, when a federal court in Missouri struck down three sections of a state law that interfered with the ability of health insurance navigators and other in-person assisters to help consumers understand and enroll in new coverage options. CHIR’s own Emily Curran reviewed the court’s decision and provides some takeaways.
At last, the Internal Revenue Service has released guidance about what to do when a consumer has overlapping coverage through Medicaid and the Marketplace. Our colleague Tricia Brooks of Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families has the details.
The latest financial filings with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners show that 2015 was a rough year for the CO-OP plans created under the ACA. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette takes a look at some of the reasons the CO-OPs have struggled.
Last week, HHS, Treasury and Labor released a proposed revised template for the Summary of Benefits and Coverage, giving the public 30 days to comment. JoAnn Volk provides an update on the long road to these changes, including key changes sought by consumers.
The Affordable Care Act brought the promise of affordable coverage to many lawfully present immigrants but many continue to face challenges when applying through healthcare.gov. Our colleague Sonya Schwartz of Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families shares the top takeaways from her recently published report, which provides a roadmap that the marketplaces can use to to smooth the path to enrollment for immigrant families.
Beginning in 2017, states can pursue “innovation waivers” under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act. These waivers allow states to pursue broad alternatives or targeted fixes to the ACA. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR researchers Kevin Lucia, Justin Giovannelli, Sean Miskell and Ashley Williams examine the waiver applications that have been submitted so far, as well as activity in states considering a waiver.
Last week, updated federal poverty levels were published in the federal register. Our colleague Tricia Brooks of Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families discusses the implications for consumers in the health insurance marketplaces, Medicaid, and CHIP.
For the most part, the ACA tries to align the ways that Medicaid and the health insurance marketplaces determine eligibility for their respective programs. But every once in a while, there’s a risk that someone might fall through the cracks. This initially appeared to be the case when our colleague Tricia Brooks was asked to help with a complex family situation in which a child seemed to be caught between the differences between each program’s rules, putting him at risk of being uninsured. Fortunately, Tricia was able to unearth a little known but important rule that helps kids get the coverage they’re entitled to.
In the wake of the high-profile closures and departures of some health plans from the individual market, a close analysis of plan participation in the state-based marketplaces demonstrates that consumer choices remain relatively stable. In CHIR’s latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, Emily Curran, Justin Giovannelli and Kevin Lucia assess insurers’ participation in the state-run marketplaces and the policy levers in place to help foster competition.
With open enrollment set to close in two week, enroll now before or on January 15 to get coverage by February 1. As the clock ticks towards the end of January and the close of open enrollment, CHIR’s Sandy Ahn provides some reminders and references the Navigator Guide, your resource on eligibility, enrollment, and health insurance coverage.
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.
