Affordability

Affordability

Build Back Better Act: Health Coverage Provisions Explained

On November 19, 2021, the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act, the budget reconciliation bill, with the Senate expected to consider the legislation in coming weeks. The Build Back Better Act includes numerous provisions that would dramatically strengthen and expand both public and private health insurance coverage. Some of the new provisions […]

New Report Highlights Coverage and Affordability Improvements for Children and Families with Permanent Marketplace Subsidies

More than 2.5 million Americans enrolled in Marketplace coverage between February 15 and July 31, 2021 during the recent COVID-19 special enrollment period (which closed on August 15, 2021). About 35 percent of these individuals were able to get covered for under $10 per month, thanks in part to the American Rescue Plan Act’s enhanced […]

Building a Better Transparency Mousetrap: Recommendations to Optimize Hospital and Health Plan Price Disclosures

By Sabrina Corlette, Megan Houston, Maanasa Kona, Rachel Schwab, and Nia Gooding from the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute. High and rising health care costs are projected to consume 20 percent of the U.S. economy by 2027, squeezing workers’ wages, reducing our economic competitiveness, and forcing difficult budgeting decisions for federal and […]

CHIP has Proven Its Worth, It’s Time to Modernize it and Make it a Permanent Part of Children’s Health Coverage

Since its inception in 1997, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has established itself as a critical piece of the federal/state response to children’s health care needs and the historic reduction in children’s uninsured rates (which sadly started going in the wrong direction during the Trump Administration). In addition to covering over 6 million children […]

More Sabotage: Trump Administration Cuts Marketplace Premium Subsidies

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently issued the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2020, which finalized a harmful provision first proposed in January that would effectively reduce the amount of premium tax credits available to purchase marketplace plans over time.  Like prior Administration actions that have sabotaged the marketplaces, this would […]