Tag: health insurance marketplace

The Hidden Enrollment Weapon? What First-Year Experiences of Health Insurance Brokers Tell Us about Barriers and Opportunities for Their Engagement with the Marketplaces

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Health insurance agents and brokers drove a significant portion of enrollment into the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces in the first year, and continue to play an important role this year. In an issue brief released this week by Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms and the Urban Institute, researchers document some of the early barriers to more robust broker engagement with the marketplaces, as well as opportunities for more effective partnerships in the future. Sabrina Corlette has this overview.

The First Tax Filing Season under the Affordable Care Act is Approaching: What Do Marketplace Consumers Need to Know?

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The 2014 tax season will be the first time tax filers will have to report on their health insurance coverage. Marketplace consumers, particularly those receiving premium tax credits, will need to take a few more steps when completing their 2014 taxes. Sandy Ahn provides a short summary of tax forms that marketplace consumers will be using.

Marketplace Coverage Renewals: Variation in State Approaches May Affect Consumers’ Finances

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Auto-renewal through the health insurance marketplaces is an important mechanism for consumers to avoid a gap in coverage, but variations in state and federal approaches could impact consumers’ premiums and tax credits. In their latest blog post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts compare the renewal processes chosen by 17 state-based marketplaces and assess their impact on consumers’ finances.

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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.