Tag: health insurance marketplace

MEC and MV: Keeping it All Straight When it Comes to Employer Plans

Open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplaces overlaps this year with many employer plan open enrollment periods, which has prompted some employees to ask questions about how their offer of employer coverage may affect their eligibility for premium tax credits. CHIR’s JoAnn Volk and Sandy Ahn take a look at what consumers need to know, especially if they’re offered a plan that doesn’t offer much coverage.

New Guidance on Re-enrollment in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace

On December 1, CMS published new guidance on the re-enrollment process for the federally facilitated marketplace. While the guidance is targeted to participating insurance companies, it contains information that is also important to Navigators and others assisting consumers through the re-enrollment process. Sabrina Corlette provides a few key takeaways.

State-Based Marketplaces Offer More Health Plan Choices for 2015 Coverage

One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, in part by increasing health plan competition. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR faculty Sean Miskell, Kevin Lucia and Justin Giovannelli find that competition is in fact increasing, and consumers shopping on the state-based marketplaces have more choices among insurers than they did last year.

New Content for the Navigator Resource Guide: Get Ready for Renewals

Last month CHIR released its Navigator Resource Guide, with background and close to 300 frequently asked questions on key health insurance issues. The Guide now has new content to help consumers navigate the renewal process for 2015. Sabrina Corlette shares some of the highlights.

State Marketplace Approaches to Financing and Sustainability

While the Affordable Care Act provided significant start-up funds for the development of the new health insurance marketplaces, by January 1, 2015 all the state-based marketplaces must be self-sustaining. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Sarah Dash, Kevin Lucia, Justin Giovannelli and Sean Miskell provide an update on states’ approaches to marketplace financing and sustainability.

The ACA Hit List for the New Congress: A Prescription for Big Premium Hikes

The recent election brings us a new Congress and a new leadership dedicated to repeal of the Affordable Care Act. But instead of pushing for full repeal, the likely new Senate Majority leader has said he would focus on rolling back only the provisions he’s identified as unpopular, such as the individual mandate. Sabrina Corlette takes a look at why he can’t have his cake and eat it too.

New Online Resource Provides Answers to Common Health Insurance and Marketplace Questions

This week, CHIR is releasing an online version of the Navigator Resource Guide, with close to 300 searchable FAQs and easy-to-read background information on key health insurance and marketplace issues. Although designed with the needs of Navigators in mind, the Guide is a hands-on, practical resource for anyone who needs to communicate with consumers about the Affordable Care Act.

Raising the Curtain on Open Enrollment, Round Two

The second open enrollment period for the health insurance marketplaces, or OE2, is mere days away. Our colleague at Georgetown’s Center for Children and Families, Tricia Brooks, takes a look behind the curtain and gives us a glimpse of what we can expect.

Major Policy Changes Take a Backseat to IT During a Transitional Year for Health Insurance Marketplaces

As the health insurance marketplaces prepare for the second year of operation under the Affordable Care Act, IT issues are driving many states’ decisions on whether to operate a state-based marketplace. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Sarah Dash and Kevin Lucia share findings on state IT transitions and major policy actions going into 2015.

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.