Marketplace
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The Affordable Care Act and Entrepreneurship
By Sean Miskell This week, numerous media outlets reported that Senator Ted Cruz may sign up for health coverage through the insurance marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While the Washington Post calls this development the “irony of all ironies” given Cruz’s seemingly unrelenting opposition to the ACA, this is exactly the kind…
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NHIS Shows Stagnation in Children’s Uninsurance Rates Persists
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released early estimates from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) on rates of health coverage in the first three quarters of 2014 (January through September). NHIS estimates provide preliminary evidence of how implementation of major provisions of the ACA – including Medicaid expansion and health insurance exchange marketplaces –…
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Report: Overlap Issuers Could Narrow Coverage Gaps, Mitigate Churn
By Margaret A. Murray, CEO and Jennifer Mcguigan Babcock, VP for Exchange Policy Association for Community Affiliated Plans Last month, our organization – the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) – issued a study that found that about 4 in 10 organizations offering coverage through Qualified Health Plans (QHP) in Health Insurance Marketplaces operate a…
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ACA Turns Five: Reflecting on the Past and Looking Forward to the Future
By Sean Miskell Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law five years ago today, health reform has unfolded in fits and starts amid political opposition and staggered implementation of its insurance market reforms and coverage expansions. But as a result of these occasionally frantic first years of implementation, children and families now have improved…
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New Report Finds ACA Had Little Impact on Employer Sponsored Health Plan Enrollment
The Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate on large businesses barely had an impact on enrollment in employer-sponsored health plan enrollment in the past year, according to a new survey released by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm. Between 2014 and 2105, employers reported very little change regarding the average number of full- and part-time workers…
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What’s at stake without a quick, clean renewal of CHIP funding? Our historic success covering kids.
A timely analysis from our friends at the Urban Institute this week quantifies the high stakes of the current deal making around CHIP. The outcome, along with the looming Supreme Court decision, will determine whether we move backwards on our success covering children or maintain the strong system of coverage that has successfully served low-income…
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Confused about What Happens at Tax Time? FAQs on Penalties, Exemptions, Reconciliation, and SEPs:
By Tricia Brooks, Sandy Ahn, Sabrina Corlette, and JoAnn Volk As part of our Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded work in providing technical assistance to consumer assisters in five states, we are getting a lot of questions about issues related to tax time and health coverage. Here are some of the common questions and answers.…
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Expansions of Medicaid for Pregnant Women Foster Healthy Development into Adulthood
By Sophia Duong and Tricia Brooks In an earlier blog post, we discussed how cutting Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women is a short-sighted policy decision. There are a number of negative consequences that arise in the short-term for pregnant women and newborn babies. And now, we know that there could also be significant long-term consequences.…
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“Stairstep” Children Moved from CHIP to Medicaid Receive Better, More Affordable Coverage
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aligned coverage for more than half a million low-income, school-aged children in 22 states that were previously covered under different programs. Prior to 2014, state Medicaid programs were required to cover children of different age groups at different minimum income eligibility thresholds. Young children under age six with family incomes up…
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King v Burwell Could Undermine Coverage For Children: One More Reason Why We Need CHIP Funding Renewed Quickly
Most of the conversation about the King v Burwell case has focused on which states would be affected, what would happen to insurance markets, or how many people would become uninsured as a result. But there’s one thing almost no one is talking about: how the decision might affect children’s coverage and why it’s another…
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Many Qualify for Affordability Exemption to Tax Penalty
With funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we at Georgetown’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms and the Center for Children and Families have been providing technical assistance to Navigators and assisters in a handful of states, helping answer the questions they receive from consumers. As the second open enrollment period (OE2) winds down and attention turns…
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Why Should Pregnancy Trigger an SEP? The Risks and Impact of going without Prenatal Care
As OE2 comes to a close, we are thinking more and more about the particulars when it comes to Special Enrollment Periods (SEP) and who may qualify in the upcoming months. SEPs provide an opportunity for individuals to enroll in health insurance after a major life-changing events such as getting married, moving, losing a job,…
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Critiquing the Performance as the Curtain Closes on OE2
A big round of applause as the curtain drops at the end of the second open enrollment period for the health insurance marketplaces with more than 11 million people signing up at the box office. OE2, as it’s affectionately called, was part sequel, part new production. Throughout its run, which was just over half the…
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Answers to Tough Q’s from Navigators, Assisters, Brokers, Tax Advisors About ACA Coverage
[Editor’s Note: Open Enrollment is officially closed but HHS announced that those trying to enroll on February 15 may be eligible for an extension until February 22. ] By JoAnn Volk, Tricia Brooks, Sabrina Corlette and Sandy Ahn As open enrollment (often called “OE2”) for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act draws to a…
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OE2: A Round Up of Questions from Consumer Assisters During the Second Year of the Affordable Care Act
As part of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded project providing technical assistance to navigators and assisters in five states with federally run marketplaces, a joint team of experts from Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms and the Center for Children and Families have received a broad range of questions since open enrollment began…
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Getting MAGI Right: Current Monthly Income vs. Projected Annual Income
Last week, we released a primer on the basics of MAGI – how rules for counting household size and income to determine eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP have been aligned with Marketplace subsidies. The move to MAGI has brought about a number of changes but to further complicate things, there are some differences that apply…
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Getting MAGI Right: Changes to Income Counting Rules in Medicaid and CHIP
Last week, we released a primer on the basics of MAGI – how rules for counting household size and income to determine eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP have been aligned with Marketplace subsidies. The move to MAGI has brought about a number of changes in Medicaid and CHIP, but to further complicate things, there are…
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How Do Updated 2015 Federal Poverty Level Thresholds Impact Medicaid, CHIP & Premium Tax Credit Eligibility?
Over the weekend, Healthcare.gov uploaded the new 2015 federal poverty levels (FPL) to use in assessing eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP. What does this mean to consumers applying for coverage? Let’s start with eligibility for Marketplace subsidies. For 2015 calendar year coverage, regardless of when someone applies or enrolls, eligibility is based on the 2014…
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Getting MAGI Right: When Does Social Security Income Count?
Last week, we released a primer on the basics of MAGI – how rules for counting household size and income to determine eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP have been aligned with Marketplace subsidies. The move to MAGI has brought about a number of changes in Medicaid and CHIP, but to further complicate things, there are…