Department of Insurance Consumer Services ACA Toolkit – Marketplace Financial Assistance and Tax Filing Issues, including Form 1095-A
The State Network team at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute previously developed a toolkit to assist insurance regulators in assuring that Department of Insurance consumer service representatives (CSRs) are well versed in all aspects of insurance basics (for new staff), as well as the changes brought about by the ACA and other recent reforms. The information in this document has recently been added to the consumer services toolkit, and includes updated information on marketplace financial assistance and related tax filing issues, including Form 1095-A.
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.
Marketplace Enrollee Survey Item Matrix – Sample Questions
As those interested in conducting surveys to measure the public’s participation and experience in health insurance marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) continue to investigate the most effective ways of doing so, access to questions utilized in previously conducted surveys will be very useful.
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.
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.
Boosting Enrollment: Lessons Learned from 2013-2014
With the recent conclusion of the initial open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, opportunities now exist to examine the experiences and successes of several state-based marketplaces in order to evaluate how they reached consumers and enrolled them in Qualified Health Plans