Protected: Coordinating the Continuous Coverage Unwinding – A Small Group Convening
Slide decks that were shared at the Small Group Convening on Coordinating the Continuous Coverage Unwinding that was held on April 7 – 8, 2022 in Minneapolis, MN.
The End of the Public Health Emergency Will Prompt Massive Transitions in Health Insurance Coverage: How State Insurance Regulators Can Prepare
Once the public health emergency ends, state Medicaid agencies will need to recommence Medicaid eligibility redeterminations and renewals. As a result, up to 16 million people are projected to lose their Medicaid coverage, and an estimated one-third of these individuals will be eligible for subsidized coverage in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces. Whether a state’s Medicaid agency moves swiftly or slowly to process eligibility redeterminations, the commercial insurance market–and particularly the ACA Marketplaces–could experience a significant growth in enrollment. This issue brief identifies several areas in which state departments of insurance (DOIs) may want to coordinate with other agencies or external stakeholders, issue new regulations or guidance, and establish means for minimizing gaps in coverage or access to services.
Communicating About Surprise Billing: A Toolkit for States Implementing the No Surprises Act
As of January 1, 2022, a new federal law, the No Surprises Act, is in effect to protect consumers from surprise medical bills for out-of-network care. Some states have laws that already protect some consumers from surprise medical bills, depending on the type of health insurance they have. The federal law applies to all states, extends protections, and offers protections to many more people, including those with employer-sponsored health insurance. This toolkit includes suggested template resources to use in communicating with consumers about the No Surprises Act.
State Health Insurance Policy Implications of the American Rescue Plan Act and Build Back Better
This slide deck presents policy considerations for states in light of provisions from American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and if passed, potential implications from the Build Back Better legislation.
Enforcement of the No Surprises Act: Considerations for States
To explore enforcement considerations across potentially multiple state agencies, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar on Thursday, November 4 at 1:00pm ET, during which experts from the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms and GMMB provided an overview of federal regulators’ proposed approach to enforcement of the NSA as well as shared strategies to consider in planning provider and consumer education efforts. The webinar also included presentations from three states on their enforcement approaches to the NSA: Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas, followed by a question and answer session.
Borrowing Proven Policy Strategies to Vaccinate Kids Against COVID-19: Lessons from Past Successes can Provide a Roadmap for Ensuring Equity in Immunization Efforts
With authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccine for children ages five and older, most kids in the United States are now eligible to be immunized. Recent experience with other vaccines shows the country is capable of vaccinating kids widely and equitably, but the challenges in vaccinating adults against COVID-19 and experiences with other immunizations in children, like the vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV), also demonstrate that success is not inevitable. To meet their COVID-19 vaccination goals to vaccinate kids against COVID-19, states can borrow strategies that have historically proved effective in immunizing kids against diseases such as measles and resulted in dramatic reductions in certain vaccination rate disparities. This issue brief highlights state strategies that have led to high childhood vaccination rates—and dramatic strides toward health equity—and identifies how those strategies could be applied in the context of the current COVID-19 crisis.
Supporting Health Equity and Affordable Health Coverage for Immigrant Populations: State-Funded Affordable Coverage Programs for Immigrants
Access to affordable health coverage and healthcare for immigrant populations in the U.S. is critical to advancing health equity and reducing health disparities. This issue brief—the first in a series “Supporting Health Equity and Affordable Health Coverage for Immigrant Populations”—provides an overview of the national immigrant health coverage landscape and offers considerations for policymakers related to state-funded affordable coverage programs for low-income individuals who do not qualify for subsidized health insurance under the ACA or other public programs due to immigration status.
A Hybrid Funding and Coverage Model to Ensure Universal Access to Mobile Crisis Services
COVID-19, the resulting behavioral health crisis (including those related to mental health and substance use disorders), and calls for law enforcement reform related to behavioral health crisis response have heightened the urgency among federal, state, and local policymakers to expand access to behavioral health crisis services. Recently, the federal government has provided new funding opportunities to states to improve access to behavioral health crisis services, including mobile crisis services. As states review the opportunities available to begin, enhance, or expand mobile crisis intervention services under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, policymakers may further consider a hybrid funding model that provides mobile crisis providers with a consistent and steady stream of funding to ensure they are able to maintain 24/7 availability and respond in a timely manner to all individuals in crisis, regardless of insurance status. Such a new model for funding mobile crisis services could also be designed to hold payers accountable for covering mobile crisis services when their enrolled members use this essential resource. This issue brief presents a sustainable, hybrid coverage and funding approach for mobile crisis services.
Notice Template Regarding Reconciliation Relief under Section 9662 of the American Rescue Plan
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has now released more information about how consumers can receive relief from repayment of excess advance premium tax credits for 2020 under the American Rescue Plan. The information is directly relevant to many 2020 marketplace consumers. While this provision will have a positive impact on marketplace consumers, it could also create confusion given the timing and will require some quick communications. Several state-based marketplaces (SBMs) have expressed interest in language that can be used to provide consumers with information about this new tax relief. State Health and Value Strategies has developed the following template language that SBMs can adapt and use in consumer-facing communications.
Timeline of Key Provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
On March 11, President Biden signed an approximately $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill—the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“the American Rescue Plan,” ARPA). The American Rescue Plan includes myriad health care provisions, focused primarily in two areas: first, it provides funding the Biden administration requested to carry out its COVID-19 response plans; second, it enacts significant but largely temporary coverage policies. Although all health care coverage provisions of the bill are temporary, many will have a lasting impact. This timeline provides the start and end dates for key health care provisions to help states plan for implementation and future policymaking.