Tag: health insurance marketplace

Navigator Guide FAQ of the Week: What Does My Plan Cover?

With Open Enrollment now well underway, consumers are weighing their options for 2021 and trying to find the right plan that meets their health needs. As consumers make their decision, it is important for them to understand what they are buying and what coverage their plan provides. Throughout the enrollment period, the CHIR team is highlighting frequently asked questions (FAQs) from our recently updated Navigator Resource Guide. In this installation, we answer FAQs about marketplace plans’ coverage standards.

Navigator Guide FAQ of the Week: Who Is Eligible To Purchase Coverage Through the Marketplace?

November 1 marked the first day of open enrollment on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. To help Navigators and others assisting consumers with marketplace eligibility and enrollment, we’ve created the Navigator Resource Guide. Each week we’ll feature answers to questions that may be top of mind for consumers, such as who is eligible to shop for a marketplace plan.

Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: I Need Health Insurance. Where Should I buy it?

Open enrollment for the Obamacare marketplaces begins on November 1. While CHIR has been working hard the last several weeks to re-launch its Navigator Resource Guide with updated frequently asked questions and other exciting new features, many are just beginning to think about their health plan options for 2021. For those folks we have some helpful FAQs about the importance of coverage and the process for applying.

August Research Roundup: What We’re Reading

The month of August went by in a flash, or painstakingly slowly, but either way it produced some great health policy research. CHIR’s Nia Gooding provides our monthly round up of health insurance-related studies and analyses.

Effects of Medicaid Health Plan Dominance on the Health Insurance Marketplaces

Medicaid insurers dominate many of the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces. Some health system stakeholders have raised concerns about the potential negative consequences of Medicaid insurer participation in the market, largely due to their limited networks. In a new report supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHIR and Urban Institute experts assess how Medicaid insurers function in the marketplace.

On the Whole, Health Insurers Aren’t – Yet – Fearing COVID-19 Costs: A Review of 2021 Rate Filings

Several states ask for – and publicly post – health insurers’ proposed 2021 premium rates in May and June. These early rate filings can provide hints about how insurers are responding to market trends, policy changes, and emerging drivers of health care costs. CHIR’s Sabrina Corlette took a deep dive into insurers’ actuarial memos to find out how they’re thinking about COVID-19, repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate penalty, and more.

Idaho Misses Opportunities to Help Consumers Get Affordable, Comprehensive Health Coverage During COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, states have taken charge of responding to the public health emergency. As a state that runs its own health insurance marketplace, Idaho has tools at its disposal to help consumers enroll in comprehensive coverage. But like the federal marketplace, Idaho decided not to wield all of them, leaving large marketplace enrollment barriers and instead promoting alternative and less comprehensive coverage.

States Looking to Run Their Own Health Insurance Marketplace See Opportunity for Funding, Flexibility

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed legislation to establish a state-based health insurance marketplace. Recently, along with Pennsylvania, several states have taken steps towards transitioning to their own marketplace and enrollment platform. In their newest post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Rachel Schwab and JoAnn Volk review the latest state actions to transition to a state-run platform and break down some of the incentives for states to leave the federal marketplace.

ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment Numbers Reveal the Impact of State-Level Policy and Operational Choices on Performance

During the last open enrollment period, the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces faced a number of headwinds, including federal policy changes predicted to curb enrollment. Given myriad obstacles to enrollment efforts, it came as no surprise that overall marketplace plan selections dropped slightly this year. But a deeper dive into enrollment trends reveals that most state-based marketplaces outperformed the federally facilitated marketplace. In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Rachel Schwab and Sabrina Corlette unpack data from the recent open enrollment period to see how the marketplaces performed during a turbulent time, finding that certain policy and operational decisions were associated with better results.

March Research Round Up: What We’re Reading

Spring has arrived, and the research is blooming! This March, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe was buzzing around studies on direct enrollment, balance billing from air ambulance rides, affordability for middle-income consumers, and the roles of assisters and support tools.

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.