While the weather may be cooling down, the research is not! This month we read about Medicare Advantage quality bonus payments, out-of-pocket drug costs for consumers, effects of enhanced premium tax credits on older adults, and strategies to increase eligibility verification and receipt of Marketplace subsidies.
A recently enacted law creates a streamlined pathway to health insurance for individuals who are found ineligible for Medi-Cal but are likely eligible for Marketplace subsidies. In a recent report, CHIR experts assess the critical policy and operational decisions to implement the program and how these choices have affected consumers’ coverage transitions.
While there is some movement toward improved health care provider ownership transparency at the federal level and in some states, more attention is warranted given increasingly complex and obscured provider ownership structures and the impact they can have on health care prices, access, and quality. In a recent piece for Health Affairs Forefront, CHIR experts Stacey Pogue and Nadia Stovicek analyze efforts to improve ownership transparency at the state and federal levels.
Easy-enrollment programs offer states an efficient, low-cost mechanism for connecting residents with comprehensive, affordable health care coverage. In a recent post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Rachel Swindle, Rachel Schwab, and Justin Giovannelli review state efforts and effective strategies for improving easy enrollment programs and boosting healthcare enrollment.
The days are heating up and so is the summer research! This month we read about the effects of health risk assessments on Medicare Advantage payments, how the Affordable Care Act transformed the healthcare landscape in this country, and finally, about hospital pricing and the values of transparency.
In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To The Point blog, CHIR’s Jalisa Clark and Christine H. Monahan describe how Washington and California’s quality programs are focusing on equity and highlight opportunities for other state-based marketplaces to similarly strengthen their own quality programs.
The Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces have seen record signups for 2024. Marketplaces can pursue innovative and consumer-friendly policies that bolster this crucial source of coverage. In a recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts reviewed policy decisions across state-run Marketplaces and the federally facilitated Marketplace.
Last month, the Biden administration proposed changes to Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace policies and procedures. In a post for Health Affairs Forefront, Sabrina Corlette and Jason Levitis take a look at the proposals related to market reforms, Marketplace standards, and premium tax credits.
Several state-based Marketplaces have deployed innovative programs to keep people covered during the Medicaid unwinding. In their latest post for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR’s Rachel Swindle and Sabrina Corlette assess the status of these programs and discuss the urgent need for more timely and accurate data on people transitioning from Medicaid to other forms of coverage.
The annual open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace coverage kicks off November 1 in most states. A number of new and ongoing policy changes will impact the Marketplace in 2024, including special enrollment opportunities tied to the Medicaid “unwinding,” continuing enhanced financial assistance, and administrative flexibilities designed to reduce barriers to enrollment. CHIR’s Emma Walsh-Alker summarizes these and other recent policies that consumers may encounter this year.
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.
