A new issue brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation analyzes the 2017 premiums for the lowest-cost silver plan in 14 cities where the information is available to conduct such an analysis.The states represented by those cities are Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and […] Read More »
State Benchmark Plans & EHBs
In previous news items, we had reported on state benchmark plans and essential health benefits (EHBs). In April, we wrote about the report CMS did on the three largest small group products by state, and in May, we wrote about the brief that the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) published on EHBs and prescription drugs. More recently, we […] Read More »
Georgetown Center Releases Report on Consumer Assistance Needs
The Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms has released a new issue brief which looks at the consumer assistance experience before, during and after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. It looked at consumer assistance programs in 12 different states plus DC to see what the needs of consumers were. Not surprisingly, the […] Read More »
What State Marketplaces are Doing with Tax Penalty SEPs
Last Friday, CMS announced that there would be a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for anyone who has to pay the “shared financial responsibility payment” also known as the tax penalty. Individuals who have to pay the penalty for not having coverage in 2014 and who do not have coverage for 2015 and attest that they didn’t […] Read More »
Urban Institute Releases Report on Special Enrollment Periods
The Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with input from the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms have released a report on state-based marketplaces (SBMs) and how they handled Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs) in the first year of open enrollment. The report looks at five SBMs – California, the District of Columbia, […] Read More »
What State Marketplaces are Doing with Open Enrollment Extensions
Earlier this week, we reported that CMS was granting a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for anyone who encountered difficulty completing their application prior to the February 15 deadline. This only applies to the 34 states in the federal marketplace. So what about the 17 state-based marketplaces? Here’s a breakdown: California: Consumers have until February 22 to complete (only […] Read More »
Are Premium Rates Going Up or Down?
Two reports last week from the Commonwealth Fund suggest a mixed message on what is happening with premium rates in the marketplace for the 2015 coverage year. While premiums on average will be going down in Colorado and Connecticut, they will remain unchanged in Rhode Island and will rise in DC, Minnesota, Navada and Vermont. To read all […] Read More »
Understanding Terminology Used by States in ACA Reporting
As you read reporting from different states on ACA enrollment, it is necessary to understand the specific terminology used as it can vary from state to state. A new report from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), the State Health Exchange Leadership Network, the State Health Reform Assistance Network and the National Academy for […] Read More »
Urban Institute Releases Report on Physician Network Transparency
One of the biggest considerations by consumers when choosing a health plan is which providers are part of the network. Navigators and enrollment specialists may be asked by those they are assisting whether or not a qualified health plan will cover physicians with whom they are already treating. Finding the answers to which providers are […] Read More »
What States Have Released Exchange Plan Rates for 2015
If you’re wondering if your state has released information on premium rates for qualified health plans in 2015, be sure to check out the resource map from the State Refor(u)m run by the National Academy for State Health Policy. As of the writing this post, 12 states plus DC have released information: Colorado, Connecticut, District […] Read More »
