Benefits & Services

Essential Health Benefits Across the States

By Joe Touschner Who remembers the essential health benefits? It was more than two years ago when JoAnn Volk filled us in on the plans states were choosing as their benchmarks to help set the minimum benefits in individual and small group market plans. More recently, Wakely Consulting offered a very helpful comparison of benefits […]

Fulfilling the ACA’s Promise

There is no doubt that families are much better off than they were before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted. Young adults, the most likely age group to be uninsured, can stay on their family’s health plan. Children with cancer will no longer exceed their annual limit on costs or max out their lifetime […]

Two States On the Path to the Basic Health Program

Both Minnesota and New York are on the path to setting up a Basic Health Program (BHP) that will provide more affordable coverage for low-income families than they may find on the marketplace.  Minnesota passed BHP legislation that was signed into law in May 2013.  In New York, BHP was included in the Governor’s budget […]

Time for a Dental Check-up

By Joe Touschner As families have signed up for new marketplace coverage over the past several months, many questions have come up around dental benefits.  I wanted to pass along some useful resources for understanding 2014 plans as well as the latest news on how marketplace dental plans will change for 2015. First, just in […]

One Step Closer to the Basic Health Program

While many of us have our focus on health coverage that begins on January 1, 2014, I am also keeping my eye on a new option for states to provide more affordable coverage to low-income parents and other adults that starts on January 1, 2015. Right before Thanksgiving, we filed comments on the Basic Health […]