By Joe Touschner Minimum essential coverage (not to be confused with the essential health benefits) is an important concept in the Affordable Care Act. Those who have minimum essential coverage (MEC) satisfy the individual responsibility requirement, that is, they meet the ACA’s individual mandate to have health insurance. Those who don’t have MEC other than […]
Earlier this year, a number of organizations raised concerns about the lack of flexible payment methods in the new health insurance marketplaces that would provide a way for the “unbanked,” – people without checking or savings accounts – to make their premium payments. Our friend, Julie Silas, at Consumers Union, authored this helpful brief to […]
By Sabrina Corlette, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms This has been a busy month for those of us eager for robust consumer assistance to help people enroll in the new health insurance marketplaces, which launch on October 1, 2013. First, the Administration released a set of on-line training materials for certified application counselors (CACs) and in-person assisters. […]
By Gene Lewit, Stanford University Health Policy Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research The countdown to October 1 has begun, when millions will begin to enroll in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA seeks to make enrollment easier by asking states to provide online enrollment systems. These new portals are […]
By Martha Heberlein The good news: Premium growth in 2012 was a modest 4% by historical standards, according to the annual Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research and Educational Trust Employer Health Benefits Survey. But there’s much room for progress, especially for lower-income families. Over the last decade, the average premium for family coverage has increased 80%. […]
As we have blogged before we were hoping that CMS was going to prohibit states operating separate state CHIP program from imposing waiting periods for children. But they didn’t, and the choice continues to fall squarely in the state’s purview. Last week we learned that two more states, Nevada and West Virginia, are now moving […]
