Short-term, Limited-duration Insurance and Excepted Benefits
Excepted benefits and short-term, limited-duration insurance are insurance products that are exempted from the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) consumer protections. Recent questions from several states have indicated that some confusion exists about which insurance products qualify as “excepted benefits” and are therefore exempt from several requirements of the ACA, such as coverage for preventive health services, a prohibition on lifetime limits, and minimum value requirements…
Reference Pricing: An Overview and Suggested Policy Considerations
Reference pricing is intended to reduce medical costs both for insurers and for purchasers of health care services, encouraging enrollees to obtain services from lower-cost providers and motivates higher cost providers to lower their reimbursement rates for those same services. This issue brief, prepared by the Georgetown Health Policy Institute’s Center of Health Insurance Reforms, provides an overview of this pricing method and federal guidance that has been issued to date…
2017 Innovation Waivers: The Future is Right Around the Corner Webinar
This webinar addressed which ACA provisions are waivable, including the individual mandate, the employer mandate, essential health benefits, and exchange standards; how the coverage and fiscal guardrails might be applied by HHS and Treasury, which have yet to provide much guidance beyond a regulation that defines the waiver application process; and how 1332 waivers might be combined with Medicaid 1115 waivers to better achieve state goals across programs.
Updated Network Adequacy Planning Tool for States
This network adequacy planning tool for states provides an overview of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation on minimum network adequacy standards. The tool is in Word format, and is designed to be used as a template to assist states in developing analysis plans that will inform discussions around updating network adequacy standards.
Terms and Definitions Used by States Reporting on Affordable Care Act (ACA) Enrollment
During the initial open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government and states operating state-based exchanges conducted various types of reporting on key indicators of interest to policymakers and the public.
Specialty Tier Pharmacy Benefit Designs in Commercial Insurance Policies: Issues and Considerations
As health care costs rise, one of the chief determinants of the rate of increase has been the cost of prescription drugs. Over time, additional tiers have been included in pharmacy benefit designs and, as they were added, cost sharing in the new, higher tiers has increased.
Consumer Impact Analysis Presentation
As the 2015 open enrollment period approaches, one of the most significant challenges faced by marketplaces stems from the complicated nature of premium subsidy calculations, which may lead to potentially large swings in consumers’ after-subsidy premiums and could have tax liability implications.
Addressing the Financial Impact of Renewals: Why Many Enrollees Could Benefit from Shopping
As the 2015 open enrollment period approaches, one of the most significant challenges faced by marketplaces stems from the complicated nature of premium subsidy calculations, which may lead to potentially large swings in consumers’ after-subsidy premiums and tax liability implications.
QHP/IAP Renewals Small Group Convening Resources
The State Network hosted a Small Group Convening in Boston, MA on July 10-11, 2014, bringing together state officials and technical experts to discuss QHP and IAP renewals in advance of the upcoming open enrollment period. The meeting provided officials from several states within and outside of State Network an opportunity to discuss strategies for confronting potential issues related to the renewals process.
Applicability of All-Payer Claims Databases for Rate Review and Other Regulatory Functions
All-payer claims databases (APCDs) collect and compile medical, pharmacy, and sometimes dental claims, eligibility, and provider files from public and private payers. APCDs are currently being used for a variety of functions, including population health analysis, comparative analysis of provider and facility quality, cost management for Medicaid and other public programs, support for provider payment reform initiatives, and consumer transparency tools.