Contact
sabrinac@ccf.eduLatest From
What Are State Officials Doing to Make Private Health Insurance Work Better for Consumers During the Coronavirus Public Health Crisis?
Slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, and ensuring affected patients receive treatment requires an urgent, coordinated, and comprehensive response from the federal government and states. Efforts must include improving testing capacity, supporting providers, addressing the lack of paid sick leave, and expanding access to Medicaid for the uninsured. At the same time, policymakers […]
New Georgetown CHIR Report Finds Ability of Insurers, Employers to Respond to Provider Consolidation is Limited
Most employers are implementing few, if any, changes to their health plans for the 2020 plan year. That’s not surprising – employers are generally reluctant to make big or abrupt adjustments to provider networks or cost-sharing that could cause pushback from employees. But many health care experts believe that if we’re ever to truly tackle out-of-control health care […]
New Initiative Could Undermine ACA Consumer Protections Under Guise of ‘Wellness Program’
Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, one of the primary ways insurance companies deterred less healthy people from enrolling was to charge them into a higher premium based on their expected health risk. The ACA prohibited this practice beginning in 2014. Health insurers in the individual market can now adjust premium rates solely based […]
Affordable Care Act Back in the Spotlight: Build on its Progress or Scrap it Entirely
It is hard to find a starker example of the different approaches our two political parties take to health care than the events of March 26, 2019. The day started with headlines about the Trump administration’s push to have the Affordable Care Act (ACA) declared unconstitutional, and ended with Democratic legislators in the U.S. House introducing a bill that […]
The Proposed 2020 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters: Summary and Implications for States
On January 17, 2019 the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released its annual draft rule governing core provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the operation of the marketplaces, benefit standards for health plans, and premium stabilization programs. Referred to as the “Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters” or NBPP, the […]