Marketplace
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Children’s Health is a National Priority
By Patrick McIntyre, United Way When it comes to the health of our nation, United Way cares about ensuring that everyone has health insurance, that folks eat well, and that Americans remain active and energized. Specifically for children, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program provide vital health care to children whose families don’t receive…
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Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Affordable Care Act Challenge
By Eva Marie Stahl, Community Catalyst The awaited day is here. The Supreme Court announced that it will hear the case against the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual responsibility requirement (and other related requests). For those immersed in football season, this is the Super Bowl of legal challenges. Game time. Be prepared, the oral arguments will…
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Implementing the Affordable Care Act for Millennials: What Can States Do?
By Maya Brod, Young Invincibles The Young Invincibles recently released a state guide with recommendations on how to best implement provisions of health care reform for young adults. The report, titled, “Implementing the Affordable Care Act for Young Invincibles: A State Guide for Health Care Reform for Millennials” identifies five major pieces of the ACA that disproportionately…
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NAIC Brings up Medical Loss Ratio Again
You know that expression, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”? Well, it came to mind this past week at the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s (NAIC) fall meeting in Washington, DC. Just as in March, during the NAIC’s spring meeting in Austin, the NAIC consumer representatives were lulled into…
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The State of Young America: Health Care and Coverage
By Maya Brod, Young Invincibles Long-term economic trends, such as diminished wages and disappearing jobs, combined with rising health care costs, make our generation of young adults the most uninsured age group in the country. But in spite of these bleak trends, changes to the insurance system brought by health care reform have begun to…
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A Chance to Raise Your Voice for Kids
By Joe Touschner We’ve posted in the past about the essential health benefits–the package of benefits that will be the basis for all health plans in the individual and small group markets and for some in Medicaid starting in 2014. Last month, the Institute of Medicine made recommendations to the Department of Health and Human…
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Can We Know the Unknown? How Medicaid Enrollment Could Vary Under Health Reform
By Martha Heberlein Back when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was first being debated, there were two government estimates that predicted different numbers of new enrollees in Medicaid – one by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the other by the actuaries at CMS. Since then, a number of other studies have examined the impact…
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Comments on Proposed Medicaid, CHIP, and Exchange Eligibility Rules
CCF comments on the proposed rule that implements sections of the ACA related to Medicaid and CHIP eligibility, enrollment simplification, and coordination.(Federal Register, 76: 51148-5199). CCF comments on the proposed rule on eligibility determinations for Exchange participation and insurance affordability programs and standards for employer participation in SHOP. (Federal Register 76: 51202- 51237). CCF addendum…
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An Honest Look at State Budgets After ARRA Expires
By Tara Mancini Yesterday, three timely releases from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured show that state budgets are beginning to turn around. The 11th annual 50-state survey of Medicaid budgets, coupled with an updated brief on state budgets in recession and recovery, and another on Medicaid provisions in ARRA (the stimulus bill)…
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How Would Michele Bachmann Replace Obamacare?
An uninsured mother with a son who relies on Medicaid for health care coverage asked Presidential Candidate Michele Bachmann the following question at a town hall meeting in Winterset, Iowa: “I want to hear more from you than your statement that on the day that you are elected you are going to end Obamacare, I…
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If Only There Were Cliff Notes on Proposed ACA Regs
As the October 31st deadline looms for groups that want to comment on the three proposed rules relating to the eligibility and enrollment of individuals into health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, many groups may wish “Cliff Notes” were available to help them sort through all the issues and the potential impact on children…
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National Groups Oppose CA Request to Circumvent Cost-Sharing Protections
Cost-sharing in the private insurance model was intended to encourage consumers to use services prudently, however, the application of increased cost-sharing for those enrolled in Medicaid often simply forces low-income individuals to go without medically necessary care. For that reason, federal legal protections were put in place to protect low-income people from being overburdened with…
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Major Implications for Children and Families of the Proposed Affordable Care Act Rules on Eligibility and Enrollment Systems
On August 17, 2011, the Obama Administration published three proposed rules in the Federal Register relating to the eligibility and enrollment of individuals into health coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Taken together, they offer a comprehensive blueprint of how the Administration is proposing to implement the provisions of the ACA aimed at ensuring…
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Waiver Watchers Alert: CMS decision protects AZ parents’ coverage; Budget cuts do not a waiver make
Another installment in the ongoing saga regarding Arizona’s efforts to rollback coverage for parents and childless adults occurred on October 7th when CMS sent the state a letter reviewing where things stand with the state’s Section 1115 waiver request. In January, Arizona became the first state in the nation to request a waiver of the…
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Farewell to Lisa – an Incredible Advocate and Colleague
Yesterday Jocelyn Guyer and I attended the funeral of one of our national colleagues, Lisa Codispoti, from the National Women’s Law Center. Lisa was an incredibly dedicated, smart and funny advocate who worked for many years at SEIU prior to joining NWLC’s staff – always fighting tirelessly for health coverage. As you will see from…
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IOM Report Starts Process of Defining Essential Health Benefits
By Joe Touschner The Affordable Care Act will bring health coverage within reach for millions of uninsured people. The law, though, doesn’t answer the question of exactly what that coverage will look like–that is, what benefits it will cover. The law charges the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to define an…
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Health Exchanges: Federal, State, or a Partnership?
(This blog originally appeared in the Health Policy Hub.) By Christine Barber, Community Catalyst Federal or state Exchange? The question of who should run the marketplace for individuals and small businesses to shop for and buy affordable, high quality insurance has been an ongoing debate in health reform circles for a number of years. And a main…
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How Has Arizona’s CHIP Enrollment Freeze Impacted Kids?
The state of Arizona was hit especially hard by the recession and responded by imposing the largest spending cuts in the state’s history. Among these was a freeze in KidsCare, the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Arizona remains the only state with an enrollment freeze in place and a new report we just released…
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Exchange I Reg Deadline Extended to October 31
Have you been frantically putting the finishing touches on your comments to the Exchange I regulations to meet tomorrow’s deadline? Or did you decide to forego submitting comments due to the quick turnaround time initially established by CMS? Either way, we have good news for you – your deadline has just been extended to October 31! To…
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Kaiser Survey Finds Health Insurance Premiums Continue to Increase
As has happened every year in recent memory, annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health care coverage increased according to the annual Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2011 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today. This year, annual premiums hit an average of $15,073 – an increase of 9 percent over last year. On average, workers pay $4,129 and…