NDNRC TO PRESENT ON CBPP WEBINAR SERIES
As part of its Health Reform: Beyond the Basics webinar series, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has asked the NDNRC to present on “Assisting People with Disabilities Enroll in Health Coverage.” In this webinar, we will help you think about what questions a person with a disability needs to think about when they are considering their health care options in the Marketplace and provide an introduction to the resources available through the NDNRC. Additionally, we will address disability etiquette and basic accessibility considerations for anyone doing enrollment work. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 from 2:00–3:00 PM ET. To register for this webinar or to learn about other webinars from CBPP, check out the CBPP events page.
This webinar is being conducted as part of a new partnership with CBPP. If you missed our announcement last week, we are working on a new project with CBPP called the Consumer Assistance Coordination Hub (CACH). This project will support individuals and groups that provide enrollment assistance. To read more about this project, check out our news item.
A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the reduced funding which CMS will be providing to the navigator programs in the 34 states using the federally facilitated marketplace. The report includes a breakdown of the total funding received by all the navigator organizations in each of the states along with a comparison to last year’s funding totals. To read more about the report or to download a copy, check out our news item.
Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order which will allow for more coverage to be done outside of the marketplace by allowing for more Association Health Plans and more short-term health plans. This Executive Order represents the first step in changing the regulations related to these types of coverage. If you want to understand more about this Executive Order and how it would affect the marketplace, check out the blog post on Health Affairs.
In other news that came out yesterday, the Trump Administration also announced that it would be ending the cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments which are made to insurers to help offset the out-of-pocket costs for low income enrollees. Health Affairs also has a blog post on this announcement and the effect it could have on the market. If you want to read more on the effect that ending the CSR payments would have, check out our previous news post detailing reports from the Kaiser Family Foundation on this issue.
The Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) has a new blog post which addresses potential changes under the 2019 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters which is currently being prepared by the Trump Administration. One of the possible changes which could be made relates to the Essential Health Benefits (EHBs). The CHIR blog post looks at how this could affect consumers and possible steps that the state could take to continue to provide consumer protection for EHBs.
Essential Health Benefits are one of the provisions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which we believe are vital to people with disabilities. If you want to read more about the importance of EHBs or other important provisions of the ACA, check out the statement on health reform entitled “Preserve the Protections Provided by the Affordable Care Act,” where we call on Congress and the Administration to protect provisions in the ACA which have benefited people with disabilities.
Next week, the University of Washington – Healthy Aging Rehabilitation Research Training Center (RRTC) along with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) will be hosting a three-day webinar series led by experts in the field of aging and disability on October 16, 18 & 20. Learn about recent research advances in key areas, including long-term services and supports, community access and autonomy, and healthcare policy changes for people aging with disabilities. Check the NCOA website for more information.
Are you looking for local partners to help with outreach to the disability community? The NDNRC has Community Outreach Collaboratives (COCs) which work to increase collaborations in the community, dissemination and outreach efforts and enrollment of people with disabilities in the ACA marketplace. You can find a COC, on the COC page of our website.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.