Marketplace
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Waiting for 2014: One Family’s Story
Editor’s Note: Our colleagues at the Georgetown University Center for Health Insurance Reform just launched a blog called “CHIRblog”. Thanks to the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CHIRblog will feature profiles of everyday people across the country who will – or have already – benefited from new consumer protections under the Affordable Care…
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Oral Health: It’s time to put the mouth back in the body
By Tara Mancini Yes, it is time to put the mouth back in the body. This paraphrases comments of Dr. Greg Nycz, a panelist at Kaiser Family Foundation’s screening earlier this summer of the PBS FRONTLINE documentary “Dollars and Dentists.” The film takes a hard look at the nation’s flawed dental care system, highlighting the…
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New Guide to EHB from CCF
By Joe Touschner If your state is like a many others, you’ve likely been hearing or participating in active discussions around setting the essential health benefits for your state. (Check out this State Refor(u)m chart for a list of state activities and documents related to EHBs.). Every state, whether it will have a state-run or…
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Child Health Advocates’ Guide to Essential Health Benefits
By Joe Touschner This guide highlights considerations for the selection of the essential health benefits with a focus on services for children. The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that each state will select an essential health benefits package based on an existing employer-based health plan. The guide outlines the process for choosing and supplementing…
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Consumer Assistance in the Digital Age
This brief provides recommendations on how states can connect consumers with health coverage programs like Medicaid and health insurance exchanges. It also explores how ways to connect consumers with health coverage options will evolve as new technological tools are deployed to facilitate the enrollment process. Where states’ use of new technology tools is limited, the authors…
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Going for the Gold: Using All Tools Available to Help Consumers Connect to Coverage
Just as millions of people are crowding the streets of London for the 2012 summer games, millions of people are expected to access new coverage opportunities when Exchanges open for business next year. Preparing for the influx of people who will gain new coverage options requires the same kind of careful planning and preparation as…
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GAO to IRS: Consider the Family Penalty
By Joe Touschner Say Ahhh! readers have heard all about the family penalty—the proposed rule that spouses and children won’t be able to access premium tax credits if employer-sponsored single coverage is affordable for a worker—even if the cost of family coverage would be out of reach. (Note that some also refer to this problem…
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Governor Walker Misstates Impact of ACA and Its Effect on Medicaid
By Jon Peacock, Wisconsin Council on Children and Families In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker attacked the federal health care reform law, but made one general point I concur with. He recommended looking at the practical impact of the Affordable Care Act in the states, and I wholeheartedly endorse that suggestion.…
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All Hands on Deck: Helping Consumers Navigate Coverage in 2013
In 2014, millions of Americans will gain access to more affordable health coverage when Exchanges officially open for business and states take advantage of the historic opportunity to provide coverage to more low-income people through Medicaid. Paving the way to these sources of coverage will be a transformation of the eligibility and enrollment process through…
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Countdown to 2014: Designing Navigator Programs to Meet the Needs of Consumers
Exchanges are required to establish a navigator program that provides grants to community or consumer-focused nonprofits and other organizations to conduct outreach and help consumers and small employers connect to health coverage. States have broad flexibility in designing their programs as long as minimum federal guidelines are met. While similar to existing models of consumer assistance in Medicaid and Medicare, navigator…
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Fresh Insights into Strategies and Messages for Enrollment in Medicaid and the Exchange
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently released new research to help states identify messages that will encourage enrollment in Medicaid in 2014 when minimum eligibility levels are expanded to 133% FPL. The research also explores issues relating to state Exchanges, including attitudes about enrolling and choosing health insurance online. It was conducted in three states:…
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It’s Decision Time for States – Do you Know Where Your Children Are?
By Catherine Hess, NASHP As the National Academy for State Health Policy’s (NASHP) recent webinars The Future of CHIP and Children’s Coverage and Keeping a Focus on Children in Health Care Reform conveyed, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes boosts for children’s coverage but raises myriad questions and issues. The country has achieved tremendous progress in reducing the uninsured…
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IRS Says Tax Credits will be Available to People Applying for Coverage on Federally Facilitated Exchange
By Joe Touschner Several states have committed to operating their own health insurance exchanges, but it seems increasingly likely that others will have an Affordable Insurance Exchange operated by the federal government. A key aspect for making exchanges successful is that those who qualify will be able to access federal tax credits when they buy private…
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HHS Provides Further Clarification on Supreme Court Ruling
By Jocelyn Guyer As we noted yesterday, Secretary Sebelius sent a letter to the nation’s Governors on Wednesday clarifying that the Supreme Court ruling affects only HHS’s ability to enforce the Medicaid expansion for adults to 133% of the FPL, not other provisions such as the maintenance-of-effort requirement. Now, the Acting CMS Director Marilynn Tavenner,…
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Comments on CCIIO’s Verification of Access to Employer-‐Sponsored Coverage Bulletin
CCF Comments on CCIIO’s Verification of Access to Employer-‐Sponsored Coverage Bulletin
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HHS Secretary Helps Clarify Implications of Supreme Court Ruling
This week, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to the nation’s Governors in adance of their weekend meeting in Williamsburg, VA providing some important clarity on the implications of the Supreme Court ruling for Medicaid. As we all know, the Supreme Court decided that states cannot face loss of all of their Medicaid funds if…
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Extending Medicaid Coverage Provides Good Value to States & Uninsured People
As the dust settles on the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, the big question emerging is whether all states will proceed with the required expansion of Medicaid to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) for parents and other adults. Like the rest of the Affordable Care Act, this requirement remains…
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Since When is 2% Considered Massive?
I don’t know about you but I’ve been enjoying watching all of the reactions to yesterday’s decision. In addition to the chuckle I got when a few major news outlets got it wrong, I’ve been smirking about opponents’ claims that the law places a “massive tax” on all Americans. Let’s just put things in perspective…
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CCF Statement on Supreme Court’s Decision to Uphold the Affordable Care Act
Editor’s Note: Following is a statement by CCF Co-Executive Directors Jocelyn Guyer and Joan Alker on today’s Supreme Court decision. “Today is a good day for America’s children and families. The Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and our nation can now continue to implement the law of…
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New York Times Offers a Preview of Who Might Benefit Under the ACA
By Martha Heberlein As we await the ruling from the Supreme Court, a recent article in the New York Times reminds us of just how important the Medicaid expansion will be. The article tells the stories of a number of adults who have benefited (or didn’t) from a lottery in Oregon in 2008 that randomly selected…