Thanks to daylight savings in March, CHIR had more time to keep up with the latest health policy research. Last month, we read studies about Affordable Care Act Marketplace plans and enrollee characteristics, Georgia’s reinsurance waiver, and Oregon’s hospital price cap.
According to recent estimates, almost 100 million people have debt because of medical or dental bills. To mitigate this problem, nineteen states and the District of Columbia require hospitals to provide financial assistance to low-income populations, but the process of applying for financial assistance is often cumbersome and inaccessible. In a recent post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR’s Maanasa Kona discusses how some states have made the financial assistance application process easier for their residents.
As summer was winding down, CHIR was reading up on the latest health policy research. In August, we read about differences between Medicare Advantage and commercial plans’ negotiated hospital prices, the affordability of employer-sponsored insurance for older adults, and the expected growth of 2024 Affordable Care Act Marketplace premiums.
CHIR had a lot to be thankful for this November, including new health policy research. For the latest installment of our monthly research roundup, we reviewed studies on consumer awareness of Medicaid renewals resuming when the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) expires, integrating health equity into value-based payment models, and trends in hospital consolidation across health care markets.
April brought us a shower of health policy research, including studies on the implications of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARP) enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) expiring for marketplace beneficiaries, how value-based payment models have fared in the commercial health insurance market, and trends in prices that private health plans pay for hospital care across the United States. We took some time away from checking out the cherry blossoms to dig in.
In our newest monthly roundup of health policy research, CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker reviews studies on the potential of personalized phone outreach to boost marketplace enrollment, trends in the small-group health insurance market, and the Congressional Budget Office’s latest report comparing how much commercial insurers and Medicare pay for health services.
For November’s monthly roundup of new health policy research, CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker reviewed studies about insurer participation in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, how private equity ownership of air ambulances impacts surprise bills, and how pending legislation to fill the Medicaid “coverage gap” could affect hospital finances.
Colorado lawmakers recently announced that hospital and health plans had agreed to remain “neutral” on the state’s proposal for a public option plan. That’s in part because Colorado is hoping the industry will voluntarily achieve spending reductions, without state intervention. CHIR’s Megan Houston assesses how that approach is working in other states that have tried it.
This May, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe reviewed new studies on the effects of silver loading in the Affordable Care Act-compliant individual market, disparities in mental health access, hospital prices, and employees’ insurance cost burdens.
April showers bring May flowers, and plenty of health policy research. This month, CHIR’s Olivia Hoppe reviews studies on the burden of health care costs on families, the affordability of employer-sponsored insurance, the effects of hospital concentration on insurance premiums, and why Medicaid insurers hesitate to sell plans on the Affordable Care Act’s individual market.
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.
