A blast from the past: Dusting off ACA Section 1333 compacts
Peter Nelson, the new director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO...
Posts tagged with: aca implementation
Here’s Something to Celebrate: The Affordable Care Act Just Turned 15!
Biden Administration Proposal to Improve Access to Free Preventive Services Faces Uncertain Future
Current Considerations for State Reinsurance Programs
Unpacking the Unwinding: Medicaid to Marketplace Coverage Transitions
July Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
June Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
How States Can Use Tax and Unemployment Filings to Sign People Up for Health Insurance
May Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
Raise the Bar: State-Based Marketplaces Using Quality Tools to Enhance Health Equity
Blog Posts:
Here’s Something to Celebrate: The Affordable Care Act Just Turned 15!
On March 23, 2025, we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this post...
Biden Administration Proposal to Improve Access to Free Preventive Services Faces Uncertain Future
The Biden Administration has proposed a rule to expand coverage of preventive services, including ov...
Current Considerations for State Reinsurance Programs
Reinsurance has been a popular mechanism to stabilize insurance markets and reduce premiums. However...
Unpacking the Unwinding: Medicaid to Marketplace Coverage Transitions
As Medicaid unwinding draws to a close, millions of people have had to find new health coverage opti...
July Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
Last month CHIR stayed cool indoors to catch up on the latest in health policy research. In July, we...
June Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
Last month CHIR soaked up the sun and the latest in health policy research. This month we read studi...
How States Can Use Tax and Unemployment Filings to Sign People Up for Health Insurance
Easy-enrollment programs offer states an efficient, low-cost mechanism for connecting residents with...
May Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
The days are heating up and so is the summer research! This month we read about the effects of healt...
Raise the Bar: State-Based Marketplaces Using Quality Tools to Enhance Health Equity
In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund's To The Point blog, CHIR's Jalisa Clark and Christine H. Mo...
July Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
CHIR’s summer reading list includes the latest health policy literature. In July, we read about th...
June Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
As we splashed into summer, CHIR soaked up the latest health policy research along with some rays. I...
Health Policy Pride: An Overview of Private Coverage Issues Impacting the LGBTQ+ Community
Happy Pride Month from CHIR! Each June, Pride is an opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community an...
May Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
April showers bring May flowers, and May was abloom with health policy research. Last month, we read...
Stakeholder Perspectives on CMS’s 2024 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters: State Insurance Departments and Marketplaces
The Biden administration has proposed new rules for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplaces i...
Stakeholder Perspectives on CMS’s 2024 Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters: Consumer Advocates
The Biden administration is poised to finalize new rules governing the Affordable Care Act Marketpla...
Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: What to Know About Off-marketplace Plans
Although the deadline to enroll in a marketplace plan beginning January 1 has passed in most states,...
Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: Coverage of Reproductive Health Care
In most states, it’s the last week to sign up for marketplace plan that begins January 1. The Affo...
From Cancer Screenings to Prenatal Care, the Latest Challenge to the Affordable Care Act Threatens Availability of Free Preventive Services
The ACA requires that most insurers and employers cover a set of preventive health services at no co...
Navigator Guide FAQs of the Week: What Does My Marketplace Plan Cover?
Enrolling in coverage on the marketplace requires comparing different health plans and decide which ...
How Insurers Can Advance Health Equity Under the Affordable Care Act
In a new post for the Commonwealth Fund’s To the Point blog, Katie Keith highlights several Af...
Round III of the 2022 Notice of Benefit & Payment Parameters: Implications for States
The Biden administration has released its first major set of proposed rules governing the Affordable...
Out of the Fire and Back in Federal Court: This Mother’s Day, Another Challenge to the ACA Puts Access to Preventive Services at Risk
This Mother’s Day, CHIR's Rachel Schwab and Nia Gooding assessed the potential impact of a new leg...
April Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
April's latest health policy research is provided by CHIR's Nia Gooding in our monthly roundup. She ...
Opponents of Fixing the Family Glitch Reveal their Fundamental Misunderstanding
The “family glitch,” a loophole in federal rules, bars millions of people from subsidized covera...
ACA “Family Glitch” Increases Health Care Costs for Millions of Low- and Middle-Income Families
The family glitch bars millions of people from accessing reduced premiums and cost-sharing through t...
Minority Health Month: National Latino Week of Action
April is Minority Health Month, a good time to consider ways to reduce the wide disparities in healt...
February Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, this February CHIR’s Nia Gooding reviewed some lovely studies ...
Navigator Guide FAQs of The Week: How to Use Your Coverage
Open Enrollment has ended in most states, and many consumers have signed up for a health insurance p...
November Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
As the autumn leaves change and the weather gets colder, we at CHIR are thankful for new health poli...
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 ...
September Research Roundup: What We’re Reading
This September, CHIR’s Nia Gooding reviewed new studies on state health system performance, differ...
As Insurers Return to ACA Marketplaces, SCOTUS Case Looms Large
The ACA marketplace has seen many disruptions since its implementation but in a sign of greater stab...
Can States Fill the Gap if the Courts Overturn Preexisting-Condition Protections?
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to hear arguments in litigation over the future of the ...
Happy Birthday to the Affordable Care Act: Your Presence is our Present
On a chilly March Tuesday in Washington, DC, with the stroke of just 22 pens, health care as we know...
States Opt to Run their Own Exchanges to Save Money, Reclaim Autonomy
Last month, the Board of New Mexico’s health insurance exchange voted to transition from HealthCar...
Cities File Suit Against the Administration for Deliberately Failing to Enforce the ACA
On August 2, a coalition of cities filed a federal lawsuit against President Trump and the Departmen...
State Efforts to Pass Individual Mandate Requirements Aim to Stabilize Markets and Protect Consumers
A handful of states are moving forward with plans to implement state-level individual health insuran...
The 2019 Affordable Care Act Payment Rule: Summary & Implications for States
The Trump administration has released a new final rule to govern the Affordable Care Act's individua...
Stepping in When States Don’t Step Up: First “State-Based” Plans Filed in Idaho, Violating the Affordable Care Act
Last week Blue Cross of Idaho filed the first "state-based" health plans, products that don't comply...
Proposed Federal Changes to Short-Term Health Coverage Leave Regulation to States
The Trump administration is expected to reverse federal limitations on short-term insurance, which ...
Idaho Goes Rogue: State Authorizes Sale of Health Plans that Violate the Affordable Care Act
Idaho has just published rules for new, “state-based” health plans that are exempt from many of ...
I’m A Certified Application Counselor. This Year’s Open Enrollment Will Be the Most Challenging Yet
Enrolling in marketplace health insurance is already a tall order for many consumers because of the ...
New Executive Order: Expanding Access to Short-Term Health Plans Is Bad for Consumers and the Individual Market
President Trump signed a “very major” executive order related to health care that is “going ...
Trump’s New Rule on Birth Control is Basically Discrimination Against Women
The Trump administration recently released regulations allowing employers, colleges, and universitie...
Relaxing the ACA’s Regulations: Stakeholders Respond to HHS’ Request for Information, Part 2 – State Departments of Insurance
In Part 2 of this three-part series, we look at how state departments of insurance responded to the ...
Important Gains under the ACA for Cancer Patients And Their Families
While there may be a respite from the push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a ne...
Have Employer Coverage? GOP Proposals Will Affect You Too (Part 2)
Much of the focus of the debate over repealing and replacing the ACA has been on the individual insu...
Relaxing the Affordable Care Act’s Metal Level Definitions: Issues for Consumers and State Options
New ACA rules give insurers greater flexibility to meet metal level targets and increase cost-sharin...
“Bare” Counties Are a Real Concern. Short-Term Policies Are Not the Answer
Fourteen U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Secretary Price, urging him to roll back an Obama-era r...
The Ins and Outs of the New Approach to Special Enrollment Periods: Pre-enrollment Verification (SEPV)
Starting June 23, 2017, healthcare.gov will be rolling out a special enrollment period pre-enrollmen...
We Read Actuarial Memoranda so You Don’t Have to: Trends from Early Health Plan Rate Filings
A handful of states have received insurers' 2018 premium rate requests for the Affordable Care Act m...
Mother’s Day Menu from Congress and the American Health Care Act
This Mother’s Day, Congress is giving mothers a new health coverage menu with options for states a...
Court Dismisses Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina’s Risk Corridor Lawsuit—What About the Other Risk Cases?
On April 18, the United States Court of Federal Claims dismissed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North...
Proposed Pre-Verification Process for Special Enrollment Periods: Policy Goals, Potential Impact, and the need for State Flexibility
In the wake of failed congressional attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, we turn ...
Policy Experts Talk Strategies, Obstacles for “Repeal and Replace”
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased access to health care by expanding coverage and reducing...
Risky Business: Health Actuaries Assess the Individual Market and Rates
As the health care debate continues, we face a number of unknowns. Congressional leadership and Pres...
Repealing The ACA Could Worsen The Opioid Epidemic
As our country grapples with an “unprecedented opioid epidemic,” Congress is taking steps to tak...
Promising Steps to Strengthen Marketplace Risk Pools Could be in Vain, if Affordable Care Act is Repealed
While critics have been describing the demise of the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care...
President Obama’s Health Care Legacy
The end of the Obama Presidency is an opportunity to step back and assess his health care legacy and...
Tick Tock: An Unforgiving Calendar for Health Plans Makes Orderly “Transition” for Affordable Care Act Repeal Unlikely
The incoming Congress and Administration have pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act but hope to ...
Twelve Days of Coverage
Despite the gloom and doom surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when we look back at what the ...
From Acne to EcZema: The Return of Medical Underwriting Puts Millions at Risk for Losing Coverage or Higher Premiums
Medical underwriting, outlawed by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is a practice used by insurance com...
A Lot to Lose: What’s on the Line for Women if the Affordable Care Act is Repealed
It’s the holiday season, but rather than visions of sugar plums dancing above our heads, we have v...
Though the ACA Faces Tough Critics, Millions are Having an Easier Time Paying Medical Bills
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has extended insurance coverage to 22 million people, but the law’s ...
The Affordable Care Act prohibits discriminatory benefit design, but how is that enforced?
The Affordable Care Act put in place new protections to prevent health plan benefit designs that dis...
In the Midst of Federal ACA Woes, States Play an Important Consumer Protection Role
In Washington, our health policy minds are on system overload. Since the election last week, the tow...
Soldiering On
This past week's stunning election results have put the future of the Affordable Care Act - and heal...
How Could a New Administration Tackle Affordable Care Act Challenges? Look to Medicare
The next President and Congress will likely need to consider policy options to help stabilize the Af...
Consumer Shopping on Healthcare.gov During Open Enrollment 4
Choosing a health plan is like putting a puzzle together, you need help putting all the pieces toget...
Simple Choice Plans Debut on Healthcare.Gov
Simple Choice plans, standardized benefit designs with fixed cost-sharing amounts and pre-deductible...
Health Plan Restrictions on Contraceptive Coverage: It’s like asking people to “renew their seat belt each month”
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has lowered financial barriers to birth control by requiring health pl...
New Marketplace Research: Off-Marketplace Consumers and How Marketplace Enrollees Fare in Expansion and Nonexpansion States
Two new studies captured our attention recently. One, from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Ser...
Enrollees Aren’t Abusing Marketplace Grace Period
Insurers and other critics have called on the Obama Administration to shorten the 3-month grace peri...
Low-Income Households and ACA Tax Policies: Benefit from Tax Credits but Paying the Penalty
We are well into the third tax year of ACA premium tax credits and the individual shared responsibil...
The Ever-Shrinking Pilot to Inform Consumers About Health Plans’ Network Size
The agency running the federal health insurance marketplace announced on September 30 they would pro...
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: Special Enrollment Periods Provide Essential Coverage During Common Life Transitions, but Many People Don’t Know They Exist
Change in life is unavoidable: people move, get married, change jobs and have babies. Special enroll...
CHIR Expert Sabrina Corlette Talks Marketplace Problems, Possible Solutions at Alliance for Health Reform Briefing
On Monday, September 26th, CHIR’s very own Sabrina Corlette spoke at a briefing on the future of A...
Hand-Wringing Over the Affordable Care Act Forgets How Very Far We Have Come
The latest round of news about insurance company exits and price increases in the Affordable Care Ac...
Increasing Deductibles in Employer Coverage: A Story Over a Decade in the Making
A graph has been making the rounds on the internet comparing cumulative increases in deductibles sin...
Quality Over Quantity? New Medicaid Network Adequacy Rules Illuminate Disparities Among Insurance Program Standards
Narrow network plans, or plans with a limited network of providers, present problems for consumers a...
Want to Know Whether Your Health Plan’s Network is Narrow or Broad? You’ll Need to Wait Another Year
The Obama Administration has delayed a promised rollout of a new network size rating system on healt...
A “Volatile Marketplace”: Second Quarter Earnings Calls Offer Glimpse of How Insurers Are Faring on ACA Marketplaces—and What 2017 Might Bring
In a turbulent year for the Affordable Care Act, health insurers' second-quarter earnings calls and ...
As Administration Reviews Comments on Short-Term Insurance Plans, Analysis Finds Gaps in Coverage
The Obama Administration is reviewing feedback on its proposed rule to clamp down on the sale of sho...
Stabilizing the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces: Lessons from Medicare
In the late 1990s, Medicare officials faced decisions by insurers to cancel nearly half of their Med...
The Proposed Update to the Premium Tax Credit Safe Harbor: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
In the waning days of the Obama Administration, Affordable Care Act regulations continue to trickle ...
New Commonwealth Fund Brief Examines Exclusions in Health Insurance Plans that Place Women’s Health at Risk
A new issue brief published by the Commonwealth Fund and authored by CHIR's newest faculty member, D...
Wisconsin’s Objection to Automatic Re-enrollment of Enrollees in Federally Facilitated Marketplaces
The administration recently issued a proposal to smooth renewals for consumers affected by insurance...
State-Run SHOPs: An Update Three Years Post ACA Implementation
Small-business owners face unique challenges covering their employees; to lower barriers and increas...
New Health Affairs Policy Brief Examines the Regulation of Health Plan Provider Networks
Limited networks have become increasingly common on ACA marketplaces, comprising almost half of all ...
The Sky is Not Falling: CHIR Expert Kevin Lucia Talks Trends in Coverage and Affordability on the ACA Marketplaces
On Friday, July 15, CHIR’s very own Kevin Lucia spoke at a briefing on ACA marketplaces put on by ...
State Legislators Conduct Post-Mortem on Affordable Care Act CO-OPs and Plot Next Steps
State insurance legislators held their national meeting in Portland, Oregon last week, and the demis...
Recent State Action: Are Formerly Vocal ACA Opponents Climbing on Board the Obamacare Bus?
As ACA opponents continue to vilify, challenge and undermine the law, four states that have been voc...
Obama Administration Announces New Strategies to Enroll Young Adults in Health Insurance, but Misses One Important Fix
The Obama Administration has announced several new strategies to boost enrollment among young adults...
Study: Medicaid Offers Stronger Cost Sharing Protections Compared with Marketplace Coverage
In the debate over Medicaid expansion, most of the attention has been on families in non-expansion s...
New Special Enrollment Confirmation Process Effective June 17, 2016: What it Means for Consumers
As of June 17, 2016, the federally facilitated market will require consumers who have enrolled into ...
California Moves Toward Offering Full Price Coverage to Ineligible Immigrants in its Marketplace
California will soon be requesting a waiver from federal officials that would enable the state healt...
You Don’t Know Who You Are Dealing With: Unscrupulous Broker Tries to Sell Us Short-Term Health Insurance
An insurance broker called a CHIR faculty member with a shady sales pitch for a short-term health pl...
Comparing Nondiscrimination Protections under the ACA
HHS released the final Section 1557 rule, completing the suite of non-discrimination rules that cons...
Improving Marketplace Coverage for Children
What does coverage look like for children on the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces? ...
Beyond UnitedHealthcare: How Are Other Publicly Traded Insurers Faring on the Marketplaces?
Two-and-one-half years in, how do we assess the success and stability of the Affordable Care Act's h...
Understanding Consumers’ Experience with Health Insurance: New California Report on Complaints Provides Insights
Earlier this month, the California Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) released its first annual re...
The Next Stage in Health Reform
Health reform is entering a new stage. Going forward, federal and state policymakers must decide how...
Open Enrollment IV (OE4) is Just around the Corner: Things to Watch
While it seems like we just finished open enrollment, the next round for 2017 coverage is right arou...
Understanding ACA’s Coverage Gains: Welcome Mat Effect & State Marketplaces Keys to Success
How can we best understand the coverage gains under the Affordable Care Act? Researchers from Harvar...
New Rules on Special Enrollment Periods: What Do They Mean for Consumers and the Assisters Who Help Them?
What triggers a special enrollment period to allow someone to enroll on the individual market outsid...
CHIR Expert Testifies Before U.S. House Committee on Affordable Care Act “Alternatives”
Our very own Sabrina Corlette was invited back to the U.S. House of Representatives for the second t...
Taking a Look at ACA Non-Discrimination Rules: When Does Medical Management Cross the Line?
The ACA prohibits benefit limits and cost sharing that discriminate against individuals based on hea...
New Georgetown Report: Understanding the Consumer Enrollment Experience in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces
A new report released by Georgetown CHIR researchers used call center data from the Assister Help Re...
The ACA is Helping Moms this Mother’s Day
A new Urban Institute study examines data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to analyz...
Obama Administration Delays Implementation of Star Ratings, Transparency Requirements for Marketplace Health Plans
On April 29, the Obama Administration signaled a phased-in approach to implementing the quality rati...
NAIC Roundup: Catching Up on the Spring Meeting and Looking Ahead
The NAIC held its Spring Meeting earlier this month and looked at SEPs, balance billing, risk adjust...
HHS Study Shows Benefits of Shopping and Subsidies, but Costs Still a Concern
With health insurers' rate filings looming on the horizon, many are concerned we'll see proposed pre...
CHIR Expert Testifies Before U.S. House Education & Workforce Committee about Innovations in Health Care
On Thursday, April 14, CHIR's own Sabrina Corlette testified before the U.S. House of Representative...
Post ACA, 3 Communities Respond to a Shifting Health Care Landscape for Newly Insured
There’s no question the ACA has been successful in reducing the number of uninsured. But what has ...
Telemedicine: Another Tool in the Toolkit to Meet Network Adequacy Standards?
Health plans have been increasingly narrowing their provider networks, raising concerns about gaps i...
Missouri’s Health Reform Assisters Triumph In Court
Health reform advocates experienced a win last month, when a federal court in Missouri struck down t...
15 States and DC Now Prohibit Transgender Insurance Exclusions
Three years ago, only 3 states and DC prohibited insurance companies from excluding care for transge...
Repeal of Small Business Provision of the ACA Creates Natural Experiment in States
Congress recently passed legislation allowing states to decide on the shape of the market for small ...
Insurance Company Earnings Calls—A Useful Resource for Your Toolbox
The quarterly earnings calls of publicly traded health insurance companies can provide insights into...
Tax Filing Preparation: FAQs in the Navigator Resource Guide
It’s tax time, so consumers are figuring out how to report their health insurance coverage as they...
As Self-Funding Increases in Popularity, Two States Step up to Address Potential Stop-Loss Policy Concerns
In the wake of the Affordable Care Act's insurance market reforms, policy experts have raised concer...
IRS Issues Guidance on Overlapping Medicaid and Marketplace Coverage
At last, the Internal Revenue Service has released guidance about what to do when a consumer has ove...
Not a Pretty Picture for Obamacare CO-OPs: 2015 Financial Losses Spike
The latest financial filings with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners show that 2015...
Final Rules Make Expanded Role Official for Some Navigators in 2018
When the administration finalized Marketplace regulations for 2017 and beyond earlier this week, it ...
A Roadmap For Getting Enrollment Right for Immigrant Families
The Affordable Care Act brought the promise of affordable coverage to many lawfully present immigran...
Healthcare.gov Changing Approach to Special Enrollment Periods, May be Bumpy Road for Consumers
The administration recently announced that it will require verifying documents from consumers with a...
States Innovation Waivers under the ACA: A Closer Look at the Updated Federal Guidance and State Proposals
Beginning in 2017, states can pursue "innovation waivers" under section 1332 of the Affordable Care ...
Tax-related Information for Marketplace Consumers
While Old Man Winter barrels down on us with cold and snow, what better time to get your documents t...
2016 Federal Poverty Levels Are Out; What Does This Mean for the Marketplace and Medicaid?
Last week, updated federal poverty levels were published in the federal register. Our colleague Tric...
Little Known Provision Keeps Kids From Slipping Through Cracks Due to Differences in Eligibility Rules
For the most part, the ACA tries to align the ways that Medicaid and the health insurance marketplac...
A Look at Proposals for Improving Health Coverage Affordability
Welcome to 2016. With first votes being cast in the 2016 election cycle less than two weeks away and...
The Failure of the ACA’s Health CO-OPs: Lessons for Policymakers
The failure of 12 of the Affordable Care Act's CO-OP plans reveals much about the huge barriers faci...
What About “Don’t Discriminate Against Sick People” Do You Not Understand?
Although it's a complicated law, there's one thing about the ACA that's not at all complicated: the ...
Deadline for January 1, 2016 Coverage Approaching: What to Do
The deadline for having health insurance starting on January 1, 2016 is quickly approaching. Consume...
No QHPs Comparable to CHIP, Says (Delayed) HHS Certification
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has finally released a long-awaited study comparing...
Filing Fee and External Appeals
One of the most significant consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the right to ap...
Feds Propose Changes – and an Expanded Role – for Marketplace Navigators
A new proposed rule from the Obama Administration contains wide-ranging new requirements for insuran...
Open Enrollment Begins, Kinks in the Cost Calculator Tool on Healthcare.gov and Other OE News
Open Enrollment 3 (OE3) is now underway and by all accounts, things are going smoothly. There are a ...
States Revisit Essential Health Benefit Requirements, but Have Little Data on Consumers’ Experiences
Federal Affordable Care Act rules require the states to revisit the standard scope of benefits for i...
Updated Navigator Resource Guide
CHIR is pleased to release an updated online Navigator Guide on Private Health Insurance and Health ...
Wondering What Marketplace Rate Increases Mean for Consumers?
The third open enrollment season for the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces begins ...
NAIC Wraps Up Recommended Changes to the Summary of Benefits and Coverage
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners wrapped up work on recommended changes to the Su...
Accessing Provider Directories and Formularies: CHIR Goes Sleuthing
We're counting down again to Open Enrollment 3 and this year, all health plans must make accessing p...
The Next Big Thing in Network Adequacy: The NAIC Model Act
In November, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) will finalize the Network Ad...
Who’s got the Best Crystal Ball? Estimates for 2016 ACA Enrollment
Experts and prognosticators have given widely different estimates for total enrollment through the A...
Half of the Uninsured are Eligible for ACA Coverage
A recent Kaiser Family Foundation reports finds that 49 percent of the remaining uninsured in our co...
Big Data and Baby Steps: Two Very Different Approaches to Data Collection
Most Americans see the need for more data about health insurance and how it’s working for consumer...
Medicare Part D After Ten Years: Lessons for the Affordable Care Act
The year 2015 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Medicare prescription drug benefit program, known...
The Experiences of State-Run Insurance Marketplaces That Use HealthCare.gov
Whether their exchange is state-based or federally facilitated, many state policymakers are seeking ...
Why ACA Marketplaces Should Report Comprehensive Enrollment Data
The Affordable Care Act's new health insurance marketplaces could be critical sources of data about ...
More than 400,000 Lose Marketplace Coverage: Let’s Fix This and Keep People Covered
This week federal officials released an updated marketplace enrollment report. While close to 10 mil...
Affordable Care Act Legislation Affecting Small Employers Sparks Rare Bipartisanship
Yesterday, the Health subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing on H.R. ...
CMS Awards $67 Million to Assist Consumers with Accessing Coverage OE3 and Beyond
Last week the federal agency responsible for implementing the Affordable Care Act awarded $67 millio...
Consumer Assistance and Tools Needed to Ensure that All Eligible Marketplace Enrollees Get Cost-Sharing Reductions
A recent study has found that as many as 2.2 million people are missing out on Affordable Care Act c...
New Georgetown Report Calls for Harnessing of ‘Big Data’ for Better Health Plan Oversight and Consumer Protection
Last week the Obama Administration took a small step forward to implement Affordable Care Act transp...
Feds Take a Baby Step Forward on ACA’s Sunshine Rules
The Obama Administration has taken a step forward to implement long-delayed transparency provisions ...
A Look at the Latest Controversy Brewing over the ACA: The Annual Limit on Out-of Pocket Costs
The latest dust up in Washington is a fight between the Obama Administration and employer groups ove...
Getting Ready for OE3 – New Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Provides Helpful Lessons
We’re just 12 weeks away from the start of the third open enrollment period (OE3) for the Affordab...
New Report: The Experience of Six State-Based Marketplaces with First Year Renewals
A new report from CHIR researchers Sandy Ahn, Jack Hoadley and Sabrina Corlette revisits six state-b...
Proposed Premium Rate Increases for 2016: The Jury Is Still Out
There's been some hand-wringing over large proposed premium increases for health plans in 2016. But ...
Church Plans and Health Care Sharing Ministries: Different Entities, Different Consumer Protections
A provider association has recently heard from member physician offices about patients enrolled in "...
Supporting Health Plan Oversight: Consumer Organization Directory for State Regulators
In the wake of formal complaints that insurers are marketing health plans with discriminatory benefi...
Highlights on the FFM Approach for 2016 Open Enrollment
Hard to believe, but open enrollment for 2016 coverage is just four months away. As we get closer to...
CHIR Expert Sabrina Corlette Testifies before U.S. Senate Roundtable on Small Business Health Care
On July 7 the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee held a roundtable discussion abou...
King v Burwell: An Exercise in Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing
In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in King v. Burwell, our colleague at Georgetown Universi...
Changes to the Affordable Care Act’s Health Plan Summaries – and More to Come
The Affordable Care Act's Summary of Benefits and Coverage - standardized, easy-to-use summaries of ...
Not One, Not Two but Three New Resources from CHIR: Small Business Health Plans in a Post-ACA World
There's been some renewed attention to the status and future of the small business health insurance ...
State Decisions on Allowing Mid-Sized Employers to Delay a Move to the Small-Group Insurance Market
Beginning in 2016, the Affordable Care Act requires states to change the definition of "small employ...
New Guidance Clarifying Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act requires most health plans to cover preventive services without cost sharing...
State-Based Marketplaces Look for Financing Stability in Shifting Landscape
State-based marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act are contemplating their financial sus...
The Affordable Care Act’s State Innovation Waivers: A Need for Transparency and a Role for Stakeholders
Discussion of new "superwaiver" authority is a hot topic among many state and health policy circles....
Activity Afoot on Essential Health Benefits
Did you know states need to select their Essential Health Benefits (EHB) benchmark plan for 2017 in ...
Implementing the Affordable Care Act: State Regulation of Marketplace Plan Provider Networks
Narrow network plans were common on the health insurance marketplaces in 2014. In a new issue brief ...
New and Improved! The SEP for People Moving Out of the Medicaid Coverage Gap
Beginning this week, a new version of the change in income special enrollment period will take effec...
Healthcare.gov Fixes System Glitch in Counting Social Security Income for Certain Tax Dependents
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that they had fixed a techni...
New Web Video: CHIR Researchers Discuss Consumers’ ACA Coverage Experiences
In their latest web video, CHIR researchers JoAnn Volk and Sabrina Corlette discuss the findings fro...
3-Year Navigator Grants Will Provide Stability to Enrollment Assistance
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has published the first indications of where it inten...
New Georgetown Report: Assessing Consumers’ Experience with ACA Coverage through the Eyes of State Consumer Assistance Programs
While the ACA has successfully resulted in 16.4 million newly insured people, we don't yet know a lo...
The Affordable Care Act and Entrepreneurship
Recent media articles touted the news that Senator Ted Cruz was planning to sign up for health insur...
New Survey of Physicians Finds ACA Did Not Result in Influx of New Patients
A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Athenahealth finds that the newly insured u...
Some Changes in Store for 2016 Health Plans that Affect Consumers
While open enrollment for 2015 has ended, insurers and marketplaces alike are gearing up for 2016 wi...
Health Plan Narrow Networks: Highlighting Transparency Deficiencies for Consumers
A recent conference hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on health system transparency allow...
The Affordable Care Act CO-OP Program: Facing Both Barriers and Opportunities for More Competitive Health Insurance Markets
The recent financial troubles of some CO-OP plans created under the Affordable Care Act have sparked...
Confused about What Happens at Tax Time? FAQs on Penalties, Exemptions, Reconciliation, and SEPs
As part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded project to help navigators and assisters in five ...
New to the Affordable Care Act, or Need a Refresher? ACA 101 Briefing Has What You Need to Know
A recent briefing hosted by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation offered ...
Latest in CHIR Video Series: Special Enrollment Opportunities for Affordable Care Act Coverage
More states are establishing new special enrollment opportunities to help people gain coverage throu...
More Trouble than it’s Worth? The Affordable Care Act’s Redefinition of the Small Group Market
The Affordable Care Act includes a reform of the health insurance market that has received relativel...
After a Slow Start, Federal Small Business Health Insurance Marketplace Offers New and Improved Functions
With intense focus on enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, enrollment through the Sma...
Year One for the Shared Responsibility Payment: Taking a Closer Look at the Affordability Exemption
The current tax filing season, for the 2014 tax year, is the first in which consumers will need to i...
What Difference do 10 Hours Make? What the Research Tells us About Shifting the Affordable Care Act Standard for Full Time Work from 30 to 40 Hours
Congress is debating controversial legislation to shift the Affordable Care Act's definition of full...
Insurance Premium Surcharges for Smokers May Jeopardize Access to Coverage
While the ACA limits the power of insurance companies to charge higher prices to consumers based on ...
Are People in Immigrant Families Gaining Coverage Under Health Reform?
Although we are in the midst of the second open enrollment period under health care reform, we still...
The Affordable Care Act’s Requirements for Quality Improvement in the Health Insurance Marketplaces: What Recent Federal Action Tells Us
The Affordable Care Act sets out several requirements for the health insurance marketplaces to encou...
Marketplace Coverage Renewals: Variation in State Approaches May Affect Consumers’ Finances
Auto-renewal through the health insurance marketplaces is an important mechanism for consumers to av...
MEC and MV: Keeping it All Straight When it Comes to Employer Plans
Open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplaces overlaps this year with many employer plan open...
New Guidance on Re-enrollment in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace
On December 1, CMS published new guidance on the re-enrollment process for the federally facilitated...
State-Based Marketplaces Offer More Health Plan Choices for 2015 Coverage
One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance more affordable and accessib...
HHS Proposes EHB Rule Changes
The federal Department of Health and Human Services recently published a proposed regulation that si...
New Content for the Navigator Resource Guide: Get Ready for Renewals
Last month CHIR released its Navigator Resource Guide, with background and close to 300 frequently a...
New Report on States’ Oversight of Health Plan Network Adequacy
The consumer representatives to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released ...
A Busy November Weekend: Launch of OE2 and the NAIC Fall National Meeting
November 15th marks the start not only of open enrollment into the Affordable Care Act's health insu...
Consumers Should Resist the Urge to Do Nothing and Renew Coverage through the Federal Marketplace
Saturday, November 15th marks the start of open enrollment in the ACA's health insurance marketplace...
The Family Glitch Persists, Affordability Measure Increases to 9.56% in OE2
With open enrollment into the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces just around the co...
The ACA Hit List for the New Congress: A Prescription for Big Premium Hikes
The recent election brings us a new Congress and a new leadership dedicated to repeal of the Afforda...
Implementing the Affordable Care Act: Revisiting the ACA’s Essential Health Benefits Requirements
Within the next several months, federal officials must decide whether to maintain or modify their "t...
New Online Resource Provides Answers to Common Health Insurance and Marketplace Questions
This week, CHIR is releasing an online version of the Navigator Resource Guide, with close to 300 se...
Raising the Curtain on Open Enrollment, Round Two
The second open enrollment period for the health insurance marketplaces, or OE2, is mere days away. ...
Georgetown Navigator Technical Assistance Project: Lessons Learned and Recommendations for Future Enrollment
Georgetown University experts from the Center on Health Insurance Reforms and the Center for Childre...
Major Policy Changes Take a Backseat to IT During a Transitional Year for Health Insurance Marketplaces
As the health insurance marketplaces prepare for the second year of operation under the Affordable C...
Helping States Address Transparency of Health Plan Provider Networks
During the past few months, CHIR faculty have examined the proliferation of narrow provider networks...
Advocates File Civil Rights Complaint with HHS on Coverage Termination Day
Last week, on the day that 115,000 people who bought coverage in the federal marketplace lost that c...
Taking Stock and Taking Steps to Improve Consumer Assistance
A new report released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation chronic...
Turf Battle or Promising Partnership? Understanding Marketplaces’ Responsibility to Offer Affordable Health Insurance
Local press in D.C. recently reported on a "turf battle" between the health insurance marketplace an...
New Issue Brief Reviews Employee Choice in Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Marketplaces
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to improve access to health insurance coverage for small-business...
Major Minnesota Insurer Withdraws from State Marketplace: What Does it Mean for Consumers?
A major insurance company in Minnesota recently announced it would withdraw from the state's health ...
We Can Fix This, People! More than Half of Uninsured Parents Are Hispanic
A recent Urban Institute study found that over half (57 percent) of uninsured parents are Hispanic. ...
Do Nothing to Renew or Get an Updated Eligibility Determination? CMS Puts out Final Marketplace Renewal Rules
Last week the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published final rules for the...
Consumer Assistance: Getting the Most Out of Limited Resources
While open enrollment is less than three months away, consumer assisters will have to do more with l...
The Next Frontier: Insurance Marketplaces That Promote Quality Improvement
While most state-based marketplaces in 2014 are rightly focused on the operational challenges of con...
New Issue Brief Examines Specialty Drugs in Tiered Pharmacy Benefit Structures
Health plans have been increasingly using tiered pharmacy benefit designs. These new designs raise c...
CHIR Launches First in Video Series: Coffee Conversations on Timely Health Insurance Topics
We at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms are excited to share the first of an upcoming video ser...
After Halbig: Considerations for States Revisiting the Option to Establish a State-Based Marketplace
A federal appeals court's ruling that premium subsidies aren't available for consumers who purchase ...
Summing Up Questions from Navigators: A Grab Bag of Consumer Queries
Though open enrollment into the new health insurance marketplaces is a distant memory and folks are ...
New Report Reviews State Action on Quality Improvement in State-Based Marketplaces
The Affordable Care Act envisions that the new health insurance marketplaces will encourage plans to...
All Enrollees Should Contact the Marketplace at Renewal
We're about 110 days away from open enrollment into coverage for 2015. In recent guidance, CMS has r...
Grace Periods for Failing to Pay Insurance Premiums: What Consumers Need to Know
On July 16 the Obama Administration published guidance for insurers in the federally facilitated mar...
ACA Days of Summer
It's getting to be a summer tradition: a new set of court decisions on the Affordable Care Act. This...
New Report on Key Lessons for LGBT Outreach and Enrollment under the Affordable Care Act
Today, Out2Enroll—a nationwide campaign dedicated to connecting LGBT people with their health insu...
Enrolled in a Plan that Doesn’t Cover Your Prescription Drug: What Consumers Need to Know
One of the key consumer protections in the Affordable Care Act is the requirement that plans must ha...
New Report Finds that, Under the ACA, Consumers Nationwide Are Experiencing Improved Protections in the Individual Insurance Market
The ACA includes numerous consumer protections designed to remedy shortcomings in the availability, ...
State Restrictions on Health Reform Assisters May Violate Federal Law
Regulations issued last month by the Department of Health and Human Services show that laws in more ...
Georgetown University Law Center Summer Program Promises Deep Dive Training on the Affordable Care Act
This July the Georgetown University Law Center's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health La...
Discover Mid-Year Your Health Plan Doesn’t Cover Maternity Services? You May be Out of Luck
Now that open enrollment into the new health insurance marketplaces has ended, options for consumers...
Changing Provider Networks In Marketplace Health Plans: Balancing Affordability And Access To Quality Care
While narrow provider networks are by no means new to health insurance, the practice has received re...
The Extended “Fix” for Canceled Health Insurance Policies: Latest State Action
In March, the Obama administration extended for two additional years a policy allowing states to per...
Florida Complaint Should be Welcomed by Regulators and Advocates
A recent complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Ri...
New Federal Guidance Helps Protect People from Discrimination in Benefit Design
In response to actions by some health plans to impose benefit-specific waiting periods for coverage ...
Final Rule on ACA’s Market Reforms Plugs a Loophole, but Questions Remain
The Obama Administration has finalized rules to protect consumers by regulating the marketing and sa...
New Rules Protect Navigators and Certified Application Counselors from Over-Reaching State Laws but Also Impose New Requirements
The Obama Administration has released final rules curtailing state laws that overly restrict the abi...
The Expatriate Health Coverage Act: Like “Using a Bat to Swat a Fly?”
Recent legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives attempts to fix a problem in the Affo...
Will Health Premiums Go Up or Down? Two New Resources Help Explain 2015 Rate Projections
We're starting to learn more about health insurance premium rates for 2015. Whether they go up, down...
Enrolled in Coverage That Just Got Harder to Use: Consumer Options When the Network Changes Mid-Year
Now that open enrollment is over, consumers are starting to raise questions about their coverage. On...
Back in the Day – Lessons from Pre-reform Days: Death to the Death Spirals
While we’re struggling with Affordable Care Act (ACA) issues, there’s value in taking the time t...
It’s Raining SEPs: New Administration Guidance on Special Enrollment Periods and What they Mean for Consumers
Just when you thought you had figured out all the possible special enrollment periods for coverage i...
New State-Based Marketplaces Unlikely in 2015, but Technology Challenges Create More Shades of Gray
It's decision time for states considering whether to transition to a state-based, partnership, feder...
It’s enough to make you loopy: inside the Kafka-esque world of Medicaid “loopers”
Remember the Medicaid loopers? These are people who applied for coverage through the health insuranc...
Changes in Census Survey Data Generate Misguided Criticism – Larger Census Survey will Remain Unchanged
The U.S. Census Bureau is implementing changes to the questions they ask on their Current Population...
Recommendations to Strengthen Navigator and Assister Programs
With the close of open enrollment in the new health insurance Marketplaces, it is a good time not on...
More New Resources Available to State Regulators
A set of new tools for state insurance regulators, as well as updated versions of some older resourc...
Who Gets Extra Time “In Line” and Beyond to Enroll in Health Coverage?
The Obama Administration is allowing extra time to enroll in the health insurance Marketplaces for p...
Florida’s ObamaCare Alternative: After 6 Years, is this the Best They Can Do?
Six years in the making, an insurance exchange finally opened last month in Florida, and it’s call...
Understanding Special Enrollment Periods, Part 1: A Look at Some Who Will be Out of Luck
Navigators have been fielding a range of questions. One that comes up repeatedly is whether an indiv...
A Limited Extension for Insurance Enrollment: Precedents from Part D
Recently, the Obama administration extended the enrollment period for people who've faced roadblocks...
New Tools to Help Consumers Compare Health Plans
One of the most difficult elements of enrolling in the new health insurance Marketplaces is plan sel...
People Who Have Tried to Enroll through HealthCare.Gov Get Extension Beyond March 31st
The Obama Administration has announced that consumers who've faced difficulties enrolling in the new...
Consumer Services ACA Toolkit
CHIR faculty Sally McCarty, David Cusano, and Max Farris serve as technical assistance professionals...
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...
Time for a Dental Check Up
One challenging question for families as they enroll in health insurance coverage on the new Marketp...
New Medical Loss Ratio Policy Means Consumers Will Receive Less in Rebates – But That’s OK
The Obama administration is proposing to provide insurers with temporary relief from an Affordable C...
Back in the Day — Lessons Learned from Pre-reform Days: Going “Old School” with Narrow Networks
While we’re struggling with Affordable Care Act (ACA) issues, there's value in taking the time to ...
READ THE FINE PRINT: A New Provision in BCBS of Mississippi Plan Could Mean Huge Unexpected Costs for Plan Enrollees
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi has included a new provision in its plan description that coul...
Help for Consumers Who Faced Marketplace Glitches
The Obama administration recently announced that the health insurance Marketplaces can offer consume...
Getting the most from your benefits: the ACA gives consumers new right to appeal a health plan denial
The ACA established new appeal rights for consumers facing a denial of a benefit or service from the...
Last Call for State-Based Health Insurance Marketplaces
There are reports that at least some formerly reluctant states are thinking of moving from a federal...
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 au...
Narrow Networks Under the ACA: Financial Drivers and Implementation Strategies
The ACA's essential health benefits and metal tier coverage standards, guaranteed issue, and communi...
Halbig v. Sebelius and State Motivations to Opt for Federally Run Exchanges
A number of states recently filed amicus briefs in a court battle over whether federally facilitated...
How Do Updated 2014 Federal Poverty Level Thresholds Impact Medicaid, CHIP & Premium Tax Credit Eligibility?
The Administration recently released updated federal poverty level thresholds for 2014. With eligibi...
Want to Change Your New Marketplace Plan? Some New healthcare.gov Improvements Might Help
New improvements to healthcare.gov are making it easier for consumers to report life changes, correc...
Here’s the Latest on Mandate Exemptions
Now that 2014 is here, the ACA's individual mandate is in effect. In the last few months the Adminis...
New Report Finds that Most States Have Taken Some Action To Prepare For Major Components of the ACA
States have taken substantially varying actions to implement and enforce the Affordable Care Act’s...
How the “3 Rs” Contributed to the Success of Medicare Part D
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act are latching onto the law's "3Rs" (risk corridors, risk adjustm...
The ACA: No Coverage for Biting Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face
Millions of people are enrolling in health insurance coverage, thanks to the ACA. But one congressio...
Relief – and New Options – for High Risk Pool Enrollees
High risk pool enrollees face particular challenges transitioning to new coverage when their coverag...
Helping People Select Insurance Coverage: A Tale of Two Programs
Shopping for and selecting a new health coverage plan can be challenging for many consumers. One gov...
The Affordable Care Act’s Disclosure Rules: Can They Improve Coverage, Raise Care Quality, and Cut Costs?
The Affordable Care Act is designed to expand access to affordable and adequate health insurance, im...
The ACA in 2014: Helping Consumers Transition to New Coverage
The start of 2014 marks the transition to new health plans that must meet ACA standards for adequacy...
Update: State Decisions on the Policy Cancellation Fix
Implementation of the President’s proposed fix for health insurance policy cancellations rests wit...
New Report Looks At Factors Leading to Medical Debt Among People With Insurance
The Kaiser Family Foundation—in collaboration with CHIR experts Kevin Lucia and Katie Keith—has...
2014 Brings New Protections for Consumers – and New Oversight Responsibilities for States
2014 brings sweeping new health insurance protections for consumers, but for those reforms to be rea...
Another Shift in Health Insurance Rules: Helping Consumers Keep Up
On the eve of the December 23 deadline to sign up for health insurance coverage, the Administration ...
How States are Simplifying Plan Choice in State-Based Marketplaces
Choosing the health plan that best meets your needs is no easy task, with much at stake in terms of ...
Patience and Flexibility Needed as Those with New Insurance Start Using Health Care Services January 1
Now that healthcare.gov is finally working, attention is turning to challenges people might face as ...
Changing Health Plans, Changing Provider Networks: What They Mean for Consumers and How States Can Help
Did the President tell the truth when he told the American people: "If you like your doctor, you can...
Handling Premiums with Care in Medicaid, CHIP and the Marketplace
Connecting people with health coverage is a complicated process, and the last few weeks have demonst...
Enrollment is Going Up and Costs are Going Down: Some Recent Good News for the Health Insurance Exchanges
The Thanksgiving weekend brought news for health care consumers to be thankful for. Healthcare.gov s...
One Step Closer to the Basic Health Program
The Basic Health Program was included in the Affordable Care Act to provide states with an alternati...
State Decisions on the Health Insurance Policy Cancellations Fix
Implementation of the President's proposed fix for health insurance policy cancellations rests with ...
New Resource for Assisters Covers Private Insurance and Marketplace Plans
Almost two months into open enrollment, Navigators and other consumer assisters must field a multitu...
As High Risk Pool Coverage Ends, Coverage Gaps Could Arise for Some Enrollees
As ACA implementation unfolds, one group that will be transitioning to new coverage is individuals e...
New Report Evaluates States’ Strategies to Stabilize Health Insurance Premiums and Build Sustainable Exchanges
The Affordable Care Act includes a range of health insurance reforms that will lead to health care c...
Health Affairs Podcast Delivers Lively Debate over ACA Implementation and the Prognosis for Reform
The latest Health Affairs podcast features CHIR's Sabrina Corlette and Bob Laszewski of Health Polic...
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health Hearing Deals with ACA Policy Cancellation Issue
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held an oversight hearing yesterday, November 1...
Cancellation of Policies in the Individual Market: Apology Accepted, Mr. President – No Further Action Required
Last Thursday, the President apologized to those individuals currently covered under an individual p...
Beware a Rush to Judgment Based on Early Enrollment Numbers
The Obama Administration will soon release the first month enrollment figures for the new health ins...
Small Business and the ACA: Survey Debunks Opponents’ Claims
Many ACA opponents claim that the ACA will be a "job killer" and cause employers to drop coverage or...
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 ...
Under Pressure: An Update on Restrictive State Insurance Marketplace Consumer Assistance Laws
Seventeen states have enacted rules for health insurance marketplace navigators that could hinder th...
What CHIP Implementation Can Teach Us
The early problems with the ACA's health insurance marketplaces are frustrating. But if history is a...
House Ways and Means Congressional Hearing on ACA’s Website Woes Tackles Broader Policy Questions
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means held an oversight hearing during which...
Policy Cancellations – Another Tempest in a Teapot?
One of the latest ACA story lines involves people with individual health insurance policies receivin...
It Wasn’t Me – HHS IT Contractors Shift Blame at Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing
The U.S. House of Representatives began the first in what is likely to be a series of oversight hear...
Back to Basics: A Reminder of What the ACA is all About
With the website for the ACA's health insurance marketplace off to a rocky launch, it can be hard to...
Update on Health Care Sharing Ministries: Exempted from the ACA’s Individual Mandate – and State Consumer Protections
The Obama Administration has asked health care sharing ministries to step forward to determine wheth...
Kaiser Report Finds More Than 5 Million Will Fall Into Coverage Gap Created by States Failing to Expand Medicaid
There's been a lot of talk lately about the technical problems with the new websites for the health ...
Health Affairs Podcast Discusses Early Enrollment Experience in the Health Insurance Marketplaces
The latest Health Affairs podcast discusses the significance of the early enrollment experience, fea...
Don’t Be Fooled – ACA Coverage is a Better Deal for Just About Everyone
Some are questioning the adequacy of health insurance on the new marketplaces. But such concerns neg...
Measuring ACA Enrollment: Lessons from Medicare Part D
The criticisms of the launch of the ACA's marketplaces continue to roll in, with some charging that ...
Clear the Path to the Federal Marketplace
Indiana, a state with a federally facilitated health insurance marketplace, is also home to health c...
How Does ACA’s First Week Compare to Medicare Part D’s?
The new health insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act had a bumpy launch this ...
PBS Program Looks at Early Experience in the Health Insurance Marketplaces
PBS' News Hour took a look at the early experience of the health insurance marketplaces, featuring C...
Health Insurance Exchanges Fulfill Both Liberal and Conservative Goals
Amid the controversial launch of the Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces, it is not ...
Marketplace IT Glitches: The Sky Is Not Falling
The new health insurance marketplaces open for business today. In a blog originally posted on The Co...
Need Health Policy Basics? Help is Here
For those new to health policy, or even old hands that need a little brushing up, the Alliance for H...
The Multi-State Plans Unveiled
The U.S Office of Personnel Management has revealed the insurer behind the Multi-State Plan options ...
Answering Your Questions on Certified Application Counselors
Navigators, in-person assisters, and certified application counselors (CACs) have been getting a lot...
Delay the Individual Mandate? Why That’s a Bad Idea.
The Urban Institute has published a helpful analysis of proposals to delay the Affordable Care Act's...
Narrow Networks: Who’s Looking Out for Consumers?
Media outlets are reporting on a trend towards narrow network health plans offered through the Affor...
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...
Message to Anti-ACA Bullies: Go Pick on Someone Your Own Size
Affordable Care Act opponents are using intimidation tactics to inhibit navigators from helping cons...
Only the Beginning — What’s Next at the Health Insurance Exchanges?
It's only 19 days to the launch of the new health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act....
Navigators Should Not Let Politics Thwart Their Important Work
In yet another attempt in a very long line of efforts to delay or derail the health care law, member...
Health Plans Get Creative Skirting the ACA. And that Means Buyer Beware
You have to give them credit – health insurers are showing just how creative they can be at shirki...
The Affordable Care Act’s Early Renewal Loophole: What’s at Stake and What States Are Doing to Close It
The Affordable Care Act includes sweeping insurance reforms to improve the affordability and adequac...
Updates on Consumer Assistance: Navigator Grants and Training
Last week was a busy week for those focused on robust consumer assistance in the new health insuranc...
New Report on ACA Implications for State Network Adequacy Standards
The Affordable Care Act promises consumers a more comprehensive set of health insurance benefits, bu...
It’s Not Too Late – Options for Employers and Insurers to Limit Out-of-Pocket Costs For Consumers Beginning in 2014
A recent Administration decision allows employers and group health plans to delay an Affordable Care...
Delay of Certain Cost Sharing Limitations under the Affordable Care Act: What does it Mean?
This week the New York Times reported on an Administration decision to allow employers and group hea...
New Report on State Implementation of Essential Health Benefit Standard
As part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded project to monitor implementation of the Affordab...
When One Young Person’s Life Took a Detour, the ACA Provided Help along the Way
An energetic college senior found himself on a life detour when he was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgki...
A Story of Promise and Peril: OIG’s Review of the new CO-OPs
The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General recently examined the progr...
New Report on State Approaches to Nondiscrimination under the Affordable Care Act
Today, CHIR released a new report exploring how private insurers and state regulators are incorporat...
Why Should Health Insurance Exchanges Drive Higher-Quality Health Care?
The Affordable Care Act requires the Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) participating in health insurance...
Rate Review 2.0: The Next Generation
Last week the Administration released its final rule implementing the ACA's insurance market re...
Diane Rehm Show Takes a Look at Workplace Wellness Programs
The Diane Rehm show took a look this week at workplace wellness programs – what they are, how they...
Don’t Be Misled: Indiana’s Consumers Won’t Have to Pay $500 a Month for Health Insurance
Indiana officials are suggesting that people will have to pay an average of $500 per month for indiv...
Federal Agencies Answer Another Round of Questions on ACA Implementation
Yesterday three federal agencies released a set of Frequently Asked Questions about ACA implementati...
Welcoming New Arrivals to CHIR
We at CHIR are excited to announce the arrival of two new colleagues who will be helping us navigate...
How Will Families Fare with the Workplace Wellness Rule?
An often overlooked part of the workplace wellness rule is the application of "carrots and sticks" t...
NAIC Appoints Former Senator Ben Nelson as New CEO
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has appointed former Senator Ben Nelson a...
Essential Health Benefits Final Rule: No Major Departures
The Administration released its final regulation on the Affordable Care Act's requirement that ...
RIP, PCIPs
On Friday, the Obama Administration announced that they were closing the Pre-existing Condition Insu...
Are the Wheels Coming off the ACA Wagon? History Suggests Not
There's been a lot of angst lately about strategic decisions by the Obama Administration to delay el...
New Report Examines Early Indications of Insurer Participation and Competition in Health Insurance Exchanges
One of the key goals of the Affordable Care Act is to make health insurance coverage more affordable...
Final Regulations on Navigators, In-Person Assisters and Certified Application Counselors
It was another hot summer Friday for regulations with the release of the final rule on navigator and...
HHS Launches Outreach to Educate Public about Exchange Coverage; Unveils Name and Website for the Federal Exchange
With just under nine months to go until the open enrollment season begins on October 1, 2013, polls ...
Deeds Not Words: Senate Finance Committee Explores Health Insurance Exchange Progress
On Thursday the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to examine implementation of the Afford...
FAQs and RFCs, Oh My!
Last week HHS issued another round of Frequently Asked Questions, addressing the Basic Health Progra...
ACA Reforms Free Up Entrepreneurs to Focus on Their Business
Entrepreneurs with dreams of venturing out to start their own business must now navigate a "wild we...
New Report: States Going Above and Beyond to Create Sustainable Exchanges and Deliver Choice and Value to Consumers
In a new report for The Commonwealth Fund, Sarah Dash, Kevin Lucia, Katie Keith, and Christine Monah...
Breaking Down the NAIC’s Comments
In comments to federal regulators on recent proposed rules, the NAIC added its voice to the chorus o...
Market Reforms Roundup: New Report on State Action on 2014 Market Reforms
In our most recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR researchers studied the progress stat...
Multi-State Plan Program Final Rule: OPM's Balancing Act
The Office of Personnel Management recently issued a final rule on the multi-state plan program in w...
The “How To” Guide to the Federally Facilitated Exchange
Last week CMS released a set of instructions to insurance companies seeking to sell plans in the fed...
The Goldilocks Plan: Getting Benefit Design “Just Right” for Insurance Exchanges
Sabrina Corlette and Christine Monahan have co-authored an article in today's Health Affairs, "...
Health Insurance Reform under the Fiscal Cliff Agreement – Mostly Left Untouched
The health insurance provisions of the Affordable Care Act were largely off the table in the recent ...
Diving in on HHS' Recent FAQs on Preventive Services
HHS recently issued a new set of frequently asked questions designed to address some issues that hav...
An Unfortunate Decision on Student Health Plan Coverage
The Administration says it wants young and healthy people to enroll in the new health insurance exch...
100 Days to “Launch”: What a Formerly Controversial Health Program Can Teach Us
On Sunday, June 23, there will be 100 days before the launch of the new insurance exchanges under th...
Evolving Dynamics of Health Insurance Exchange Implementation
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the roles of states and the federal government in es...
Figuring Out Premium Tax Credits
Amid debate about the cost of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, our colleague at Georg...
As Self-Funding Remains Hot Topic in Press, States Begin to Take Action
Whether or not small employers will begin self-funding in greater numbers as the Affordable Care Act...
Oh Where, Oh Where Are The Multi-State Plans?
More than two months after the deadline for health insurance issuers to submit applications for the ...
Final Rule on Workplace Wellness Programs: A Look at the Implications for Consumers
Employers are increasingly turning to workplace wellness programs with an eye toward improving emplo...
The ACA: Improving Incentives for Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment
Before the ACA, many people were hesitant to launch their own business because they feared losing th...
Checking in on the NAIC: Work in Progress to Update Model State Laws to Comply with the Affordable Care Act
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) continues its work to support states' imp...
Reflections on Repeal Redux
Last week marked the thirty-seventh time that the House has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act....
Breast Cancer Patient Had to Become a Fundraiser to Make Up for Insurance Plan Shortcomings
When Stacy Cook learned she had breast cancer, her health coverage fell short. In this latest story ...
In the Midst of “Rate Shock” Fears, Insurers Request Lower Rates in Oregon
An interesting thing happened in Oregon last week after the Division of Insurance publicly posted in...
Race to October: Health Insurance Marketplace Readiness
On May 7th, the National Institute for Healthcare Management Foundation hosted a webinar on state ma...
Helping Consumers Understand their New Health Insurance Options: CCIIO Releases Model Renewal Notice
This week CCIIO released new guidance and model language for insurers to use in communicating with c...
A Busy Week in Health Policy
While we have certainly seen some busy weeks for Affordable Care Act implementation, we had not expe...
News from the Feds: Latest Round of FAQs on ACA Implementation
In the last few days the federal government has released new guidance for insurance companies relati...
Taking Rate Review to the Next Level: New Report Examines Possible New Mechanisms to Bend the Cost Curve
A new report from Oregon examines the effect of that state's rate review program - and proposes inno...
Consumer Assistance and Health Reform: Bridging the Gap
With open enrollment for the new health insurance marketplaces just around the corner, attention is ...
A Surprising Source of an Intra-Party Fight: The PCIPs
The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to debate the first major proposal in three years to ...
Emerging Policies on Dental Coverage for Kids
With the final rules on essential health benefits and market reforms now released, stakeholders have...
Senate HELP Hearing Examines Upcoming Market Changes Under ACA
Today Sabrina Corlette was called to provide testimony before the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, L...
Spring NAIC Meeting: Insurance Commissioners Take Houston
This past week marked the first of three national conferences for the National Association of Insura...
Factors Affecting Self-Funding by Small Employers: Views from the Market
In our most recent report, Kevin Lucia, Christine Monahan, and Sabrina Corlette assess attitudes tow...
New Guidance: Federal Regulators Allow “Collaborative Arrangements” for Enforcement
On March 15, 2013, federal regulators released guidance on how the Affordable Care Act's new market ...
Vermont’s Rate Fillings: What Do They Mean for Consumers?
On Monday, Vermont became the first state to release preliminary rate filings for plans to be sold i...
Diving Deep on Two New Rate Studies
With the Affordable Care Act’s most significant reforms going into effect in 2014, attention has i...
Missing the Point: Department of Labor’s Annual Report on Self-Insurance
On April 1, the Department of Labor released its annual report to Congress on Self-Insured Group Hea...
Beware the Latest Loophole
As significant an impact as the Affordable Care Act will have on the U.S. health insurance market, ...
NAIC Tackles Consumers’ ACA Questions: Subgroup Prepares Educational Materials for State Departments of Insurance
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is developing a set of materials to help educate...
Building the New Insurance Marketplaces: Future of One State-Based Exchange Threatened
Planners in the District of Columbia have unanimously approved a proposal to ensure the long-term vi...
Essential Health Benefits in the States: Selections Have Been Made but Questions Remain
In our most recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, Sabrina Corlette and CHIR colleagues exami...
Consumer Representatives Issue Recommendations for Sweeping Insurance Reforms Under the Affordable Care Act
On August 11, 2012, the consumer representatives to the National Association of Insurance Commission...
Putting the “Quality” in “Quality, Affordable Health Care”
As exchange watchers count down to the December 14th deadline for states to officially choose a stat...
Health Reform on the Campaign Trail
With much attention focused on this week’s Republican National Convention, Katie Keith dives in to...
New Developments in the Stop-Loss Debate
The debate over the sale of stop-loss insurance to small employers is a hot topic among health polic...
We Attend SERFF Meetings…So You Don’t Have To!
As the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting kicks off in Washington DC this week,...
Action on Multi-State Plans, But Still No Specifics
Last week the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released its draft application for Multi-Sta...
Skip the Seconds and Take a Look at the Workplace Wellness Rules
Last week the Obama Administration released new, proposed rules on workplace wellness programs that ...
Pass the Stuffing: There's a lot going on in the new essential health benefit rules
Last week the Obama Administration released new, proposed rules establishing minimum standards to im...
Health Reform on the Campaign Trail – Obama's Blueprint
With the release of President Obama's plans for a second term in office, JoAnn Volk takes a loo...
State of the States: Choosing an Essential Health Benefits Benchmark Plan
To help make coverage more comprehensive, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurers to cover a...
Summary of Benefits and Coverage: Helping Consumers Shop for Health Insurance
As of September 23, consumers will begin to receive a new summary of benefits and coverage form that...
Using Rate Review to Address Affordability of Coverage: Efforts in the States
A handful of states are taking innovative approaches to the regulation of health insurance premium r...
Waiting for 2014: One Family's Story
Thanks to the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHIRblog will feature profiles of every...
Taking a Closer Look at Implementation of the ACA’s Insurance Reforms
As stakeholders wrap up their comments on ACA proposed rules published last month, JoAnn Volk takes ...
New Study Finds that Improved Coverage for Young Adults Has Increased Access to Care
A new study in the journal Health Affairs finds that the ACA's dependent coverage provision has...
The Top Three Questions on Multi-State Plans
With the deadline looming for comments on the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) recent pro...
New Report Finds Patients Pay for Confusion Over Colonoscopy Screening
Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation—in partnership with CHIR, the American Cancer Society, and the...
NAIC – Moving Forward on Consumer Protections in the ACA
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is moving forward with model state laws t...
Everything You Need to Know from This Week’s National NAIC Meeting
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held its annual summer meeting in Atlanta...
First Public Meeting of New NAIC Working Group on Regulatory Alternatives to the ACA
On November 16, state regulators and interested parties held the first public meeting of the NAIC�...
New Report Adds Insights to Debate on Whether Florida Should Exercise Medicaid Option
Our colleagues at the Center for Children and Families are out with a new report analyzing the impac...
CCIIO Releases New Exchange Blueprint
States have consistently asked for more guidance from the federal government on health insurance exc...
The House Energy and Commerce Committee Debates ACA Implementation
The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on December 13 to discuss ...
State of the States: Minnesota, New Mexico, and Virginia
On August 9, 2012, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released three new reports prepared by the Urb...
The ACA and the Supreme Court: What’s Next for States and the Federal Government?
While many will be focused on the drama of the November election, Katie Keith discusses the need for...
State of the States: Trends from 10 Key States
Today, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released four new cross-cutting reports prepared by the Ur...
Get Ready for the Rulemaking!
The election results mean full steam ahead with implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The ultim...
The Medical Loss Ratio Rule – Report Highlights Savings for Consumers
A recent study documents major savings for consumers, thanks to the ACA's medical loss ratio ru...
The Results are In: Now What?
With the fundamental direction of health policy in our country on the line, Americans across the cou...
Leadership and Staffing Changes at CCIIO
As HHS races against some incredibly tight deadlines between now and January 1, 2014, we've no...
CHIR Proud to Welcome New Faculty Member, Sarah Dash
CHIR - and CHIRblog - are excited to welcome a new member to our team! Allow Kevin Lucia to introduc...
State of the States: California and Colorado Identify EHB Benchmark Plans
Last week, California became the second state in the nation to pass legislation adopting its essenti...
More Detail on Multi-State Plans from Proposed Rules
The Office of Personnel Management has released new information about the Multi-State Plan Program, ...
Waiting for 2014: One Family's Story
Continuing our "Real Stories, Real Reforms" series, CHIRblog presents our second profile of everyday...