Tag: navigators

New Tools to Help Consumers Compare Health Plans

One of the most difficult elements of enrolling in the new health insurance Marketplaces is plan selection. Consumers are often overwhelmed and confused about their options. In this guest post, former CHIR colleague and ACA expert Christine Monahan discusses a new tool that can help consumers make better plan choices.

HHS Proposes to Preempt Some State Navigator Laws; Lays Out Federal Enforcement Framework

In a proposed regulation released Friday, March 14, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services drew a line in the sand for states with laws restricting the ability of Navigators and consumer assisters to perform the jobs required of them under the ACA. Sabrina Corlette has an overview of the proposed rules and what they mean for Navigators and for states.

Shifting into Post-Enrollment Issues: Fielding New Questions from Consumers

As we approach the end of open enrollment into new coverage options under the Affordable Care Act, many consumers have questions about their new health plans – what benefits are covered, what doctors are included in their networks, and what to do if there’s a problem. JoAnn Volk has them covered, with a series of frequently asked questions about post-enrollment issues, excerpted from our Navigator Resource Guide.

Federal Court Ruling Casts Doubt on State Power to Restrict Health Reform Navigators

In January, a federal court in Missouri became the first to rule on whether states have the legal authority to restrict the work of the Affordable Care Act’s consumer assistance “navigators.” In a new post for The Commonwealth Fund, Justin Giovannelli, Kevin Lucia, and Sabrina Corlette discuss the decision and explore its significance for Missouri and the other states that have adopted restrictions on navigators and consumer assisters.

New Resource for Assisters Covers Private Insurance and Marketplace Plans

Almost two months into open enrollment, Navigators and other consumer assisters must field a multitude of questions about plan options inside the marketplace and out, how individual and employer-sponsored coverage may change as a result of the ACA, and whether consumers have the coverage they need to satisfy the individual mandate. Today, CHIR released a Navigator Resource Guide that helps Navigators explain key insurance and marketplace concepts and accurately answer a wide range of questions.

Helping Consumers Understand their Coverage Options, from Coast to Coast

A massive consumer outreach and education effort is underway to help consumers understand their new coverage options under the Affordable Care Act. But obstacles remain, particularly in states with federally facilitated marketplaces. In the second of a two-part series of blogs for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR faculty members Sarah Dash, Kevin Lucia, and Justin Giovannelli examined the range of outreach efforts across the states.

Answering Your Questions on Certified Application Counselors

Navigators, in-person assisters, and certified application counselors (CACs) have been getting a lot of attention lately. But when it comes to CACs in particular, there’s lots of uncertainty about who they are, what they’ll be doing, and how. Our colleague Tricia Brooks takes a moment to answer a series of questions about CACs.

Attacks on Navigators Continue at House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee held an oversight hearing to assess the Administration’s readiness for the October 1st launch of the health insurance marketplaces. The focus of the Committee quickly turned to the Navigator program. Elissa Dines has this report from a contentious hearing.

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.