Open Enrollment Year 5 (OE5) will start on Wednesday, November 1. The dates for open enrollment this year are different than they were in prior years as OE5 will end on December 15, 2017. These dates apply for marketplaces on the federally facilitated exchange (healthcare.gov). Some states who are running their own state-based marketplace will […] Read More »
Focus on Medicaid Expansion Reform Turns to 1115 Waivers
While legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has stalled, some states have turned to Section 1115 waivers as a way to modify how Medicaid expansion operates in their states. A new issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation entitled “Section 1115 Medicaid Expansion Waivers: A Look at Key Themes and State […] Read More »
New Report Addresses Standardized Benefit Designs in SBMs
A new report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute looks at how successful state-based marketplaces (SBMs) have been with implementing standardized benefit design. The report examined four SBMs, all of which allow non-standardized plans in addition to standardized ones. The four states were Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon. The study finds […] 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 »
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 »
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 »
HHS Releases Enrollment Data
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the latest enrollment data through March 31 which was the official end of open enrollment. These numbers include enrollment from the federally facilitated marketplace as well as the numbers from the state-based marketplaces. To read the news release from HHS, click here. The specific reports […] Read More »
