OE8 JUST OVER 3 WEEKS AWAY
In just over three weeks, Open Enrollment Year 8 (OE8) will begin. To make sure you are ready, Healthcare.gov has a helpful list of things you can do to get ready for OE8. In some State-Based Marketplaces (SBM), consumers can even begin to browse plans and compare pricing, so if you live in a state with a SBM, check out your state’s website. The SBM websites are linked on the NDNRC state pages which can be accessed with our State Resource Guide Map located on our homepage.
Are you looking for resources to help with outreach for the upcoming OE8? AAHD is once again working with Community Catalyst and other partners in conducting outreach to educate individuals about the ACA Marketplace. This outreach includes graphics like the one below which highlight the important dates for the upcoming open enrollment. These graphics are available in the Community Catalyst Outreach Hub.
If you’re looking for outreach materials related to COVID-19 and special enrollment periods, check out the COVID-19 messaging guide from Community Catalyst.
A recent blog post from the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) examines efforts by the state of California to address the issues parity for the coverage of mental health services. The NDNRC also has a fact sheet addressing this issue entitled “Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity.”
A new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the increase in the number of Americans who have reported mental health symptoms over the last year. The report goes on to explain how those individuals could be denied coverage for mental health treatment if the ACA protections for people with pre-existing conditions were overturned as part of the ACA repeal case. To learn more about the report or for a link to it, check out our news item.
In advance of OE8, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is continuing its nine-part Health Reform: Beyond the Basics webinar series. This webinar series provides technical assistance to navigators and other health insurance enrollment assisters and is designed to provide training in advance of OE8. This past Tuesday’s webinar addressed the topic “Plan Selection” while last Thursday’s webinar addressed “Health Insurance Plan Design”. The slides and video recording can be found in our news item along with a complete list of the topics, dates and times of the scheduled webinars and links to register for them.
Last week, we highlighted several resources related to the upcoming case of California v. Texas which will be heard by the Supreme Court in November. This week, CBPP published a blog which summarizes many of the concerns regarding the case against the ACA.
Additionally, CBPP released a report which explains how many of the ACA alternatives which purport to protect people with pre-existing conditions end up falling short of the goal. Many of these issues such as prohibitions against individual underwriting and covering essential health benefits were covered in AAHD’s statement “Preserve the Protections Provided by the Affordable Care Act”.
Archives of our weekly updates are available on the NDNRC website.