The Biden administration will soon finalize its annual rulemaking for the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces. To better understand the impact of the proposed changes, CHIR reviewed the public comments submitted by key stakeholder groups. In this first in a 3-part blog series, CHIR expert Sabrina Corlette reviews the feedback provided by health insurance companies and web-brokers.
The annual Marketplace Open Enrollment Period is just around the corner. Enrolling in health insurance can be a challenge, especially for the millions of Americans with limited English proficiency (LEP). In a new issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts document how the Affordable Care Act’s Marketplaces are facilitating access to health insurance information for LEP individuals, identify persistent gaps in language services, and recommend federal policies to improve language access in the Marketplaces.
The Affordable Care Act established health insurance Marketplaces to facilitate enrollment in comprehensive and affordable health insurance. Most states rely on the federal government to run their Marketplace, but recently, several states have expressed interest in taking over Marketplace operations. With Marketplace enrollment at an all-time high, and millions more people poised to transition from Medicaid to commercial insurance, the role of the Marketplaces as a coverage safety net has never been more pivotal. But federal rules impose few standards for states launching and maintaining a Marketplace. It may be time for the federal government to establish a stronger federal floor.
The tenth annual open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces is upon us. In a new issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts Rachel Schwab, Rachel Swindle, and Justin Giovannelli detail innovative outreach strategies employed by state-based marketplaces during the open enrollment period for plan year 2022—tactics that can be applied during the forthcoming enrollment season for plan year 2023.
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to historic reductions in racial and ethnic disparities related to health insurance coverage. However, equal access to health coverage is not enough to ensure health equity. In their latest issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, Dania Palanker and Nia Denise Gooding examine how four state-based health insurance marketplaces have acted to reduce health inequity, and outline considerations for other state-based marketplaces developing a health equity strategy.
For the past four years, December 15 has been the deadline for most Americans to enroll in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces for coverage effective the following year. This year the Biden administration has extended the sign-up window for an extra four weeks. CHIR’s Rachel Schwab takes a look at the benefits – and potential risks – of giving people more time to enroll.
We’re a week into Affordable Care Act marketplace open enrollment, and it looks like the three newest state-based marketplaces, Kentucky, Maine, and New Mexico, are off to a solid start. The transition away from the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov, has taken time, effort, and an up-front investment in the new state-run platforms and other SBM infrastructure. CHIR’s Rachel Swindle takes a look at some of the challenges and opportunities for states running their own marketplaces.
The resumption of Medicaid eligibility redeterminations at the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency could result in millions of people losing their Medicaid coverage. The state and federal health insurance marketplaces can play a significant role helping many of these individuals transition to subsidized private insurance, but they need to start planning now.
Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced $20 million in grant funding for the 21 state-based marketplaces (SBM). The federal funding, allocated under the American Rescue Plan, will allow SBMs to modernize their technology platforms, outreach programs, and other systems and operations to ensure compliance with federal requirements, including the temporary expansion of marketplace subsidies. CHIR’s Rachel Schwab takes a look at some of the initiatives SBMs are planning with the new grant funding.
The American Rescue Plan made health insurance more affordable, but covering the 30 million remaining uninsured will require innovative efforts to broadcast and facilitate enrollment in subsidized insurance. To that end, several states, following an inaugural effort in Maryland, have proposed or are implementing a new avenue to enrollment through the tax-filing process. In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, CHIR experts take a look at states that are operating or implementing “Easy Enrollment” programs, and how they may offer a bridge to more ambitious initiatives like automatic enrollment.
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.
