Innovation Waivers: An Opportunity for States to Pursue Their Own Brand of Health Reform
States have long been the testing ground for new models of health care and coverage. Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act, which takes effect in less than two years, throws open the door to innovation by authorizing states to rethink the law’s coverage designs. Under State Innovation Waivers, states can modify the rules regarding covered benefits, subsidies, insurance marketplaces, and individual and employer mandates.
States Expanding Medicaid See Significant Budget Savings and Revenue Gains
As some states continue to debate whether to implement Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, early results from those that have done so show the impact this decision has had on their state budgets. States that expanded the number of people eligible for Medicaid are seeing big budgetary savings without reducing services. This report, prepared by Manatt Health Solutions, analyzes data from eight states, showing $1.8 billion in budget savings by the end of 2015 as a result of Medicaid expansion.
State Network – Medicaid Expansion States See Significant Budget Savings and Revenue Gains
As states continue to look for new ways to balance their budgets, early results from states that have expanded Medicaid show significant state budget savings after just the first year of expansion. Twenty-six states have expanded Medicaid—this brief focuses on the budget impact in two states: Kentucky and Arkansas.
Tax Season Special Enrollment Periods
The second open enrollment period (OEP) under the Affordable Care Act ended on February 15, with more than 11.4 million people enrolled in coverage through the Federal and state Marketplaces. Attention now turns to the 2014 tax filing season. Many tax filers who were uninsured for all or part of 2014 are learning for the first time that they must pay a penalty, and have missed the opportunity to enroll in 2015 coverage. These gaps in consumer awareness, combined with the timing of this year’s OEP, have led to several Marketplaces allowing certain uninsured consumers additional time to enroll in order to avoid paying a penalty next year.
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…
Advancing Delivery and Payment Reform in Managed Care Provider Networks
This suite of issue briefs is geared toward states interesting in value-based purchasing for health care. Part 1 deals with strategic considerations, Part 2 offers an implementation guide, while Part 3 includes a planning template for state purchasers.
Individual and Family Engagement in the Medicaid Population: Emerging Best Practices and Recommendations
In this issue brief, The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) outlines action-oriented recommendations and strategies to support enhanced individual and family engagement efforts in Medicaid. Research shows that engaged individuals and families actively working with their health care teams have better outcomes, often choose less expensive options when participating in shared decision-making, and express greater satisfaction with their health care experiences.
Approaches to the Integration of Services for Individuals with Intellectual and Other Developmental Disabilities
Based on interviews conducted with I/DD staff in six states, this paper highlights approaches to integrating services within the Medicaid program for individuals with I/DD, and lessons learned from states with integration activities underway.
Impacts of the Affordable Care Act on Health Insurance Coverage in Oregon
Between October 2013 and April 2014 access to health insurance in Oregon expanded in two ways, leading to unprecedented changes in insurance coverage in the state. First, the state extended Medicaid coverage to many previously ineligible low-income adults. Second, the state created a health insurance marketplace that provided a resource where individuals could learn what they are eligible for, explore financial assistance options available to them, and compare commercial plans.