Qualified Health Plan Review in Marketplaces with State Plan Management: An Analysis of the Division of Labor Between State Exchanges and Other State Agencies
States have implemented a variety of different methods to handle the review and certification of qualified health plans (QHPs). The Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) Research Group at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at Wharton (LDI) recently collected data from 30 states, including those with State Based Marketplaces (SBMs), State Partnership Marketplaces (SPMs), Supported State Based Marketplaces (SSBMs), and Federally Facilitated Marketplaces (FFMs) with state plan management. This brief summarizes the findings within this dataset, which outlines the various plan management and certification functions assumed by different state agencies across these marketplace models.
Improving Care for Medicaid Beneficiaries Experiencing Homelessness
Nationwide on a given night in January 2014, more than 578,000 people were homeless, and one third of these people were sleeping on the streets, in cars, or other places not meant for human habitation. Over the course of a year, about 1.42 million people used a shelter or transitional housing program for homeless individuals or families. Homeless people often have significant health and behavioral health needs that can be very difficult to manage without stable housing, and many people who experience homelessness are Medicaid beneficiaries. As purchasers of health care, state Medicaid agencies have critical roles to play in the delivery of more appropriate and cost-effective care for people with complex health and behavioral health care needs who experience homelessness.
Financing Shared Administrative Functions Between State-Based Marketplaces and State Medicaid Programs: Cost Allocation Methodologies
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides opportunities for expanded access to health coverage through both the expansion of Medicaid and the establishment of health insurance marketplaces. State-based marketplaces (SBMs), as pathways to both public and private health coverage, are required to perform cross-program functions that support access to both qualified health plans (QHPs) available through the marketplace, as well as coverage through Medicaid. While these shared functions create an opportunity for savings through enhanced efficiency, they also require states to properly attribute funding to both through a process known as cost allocation.
Assessing a New Option: The Feasibility of Contracting With a Single Firm to Build and Operate a State’s Marketplace
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the design of state health insurance exchanges has evolved to include several distinct models. This evolution has led to the possibility that a state’s exchange development and operations could be delegated to a private vendor. States operating their own state-based marketplaces (SBMs) may begin to consider other options as they confront budget challenges and look to streamline operations.
The Impact of Medicaid Expansion on Uncompensated Care Costs: Early Results and Policy Implications for States
Since implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the 30 states that have expanded Medicaid have enrolled more than 10 million people in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the collective rate of uninsured individuals in these states has fallen from 18 percent to less than 11 percent. Recent research by Manatt Health Solutions looked at the fiscal implications of expansion and found that, in addition to coverage gains, expansion states experienced significant budget savings and revenue gains. This issue brief, the third in this series prepared by Manatt Health Solutions, examines early data on expansion-related decreases in uncompensated care costs and related state budget implications.
Enhancing Broker Engagement: New Strategies for Marketplaces to Expand Enrollment
Health insurance brokers can play a unique role in helping all forms of marketplaces to reach out to uninsured households and assist residents with new enrollments, as well as coverage renewals. Recently, several marketplaces implemented pilot programs intended to leverage the resources of agencies that are particularly interested in building their direct enrollment business under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The success of these initiatives is demonstrated by these marketplaces’ plans to expand their efforts for the upcoming open enrollment period.
Regulation of Student Health Plans Under Federal and State Law: An Overview
In March of 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a regulation defining student health plans as individual health insurance under federal law. As a result, they are now subject to the same consumer protections afforded to all those covered by individual health insurance set forth in the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Affordable Care Act. This issue brief, prepared by the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, examines student health plans, which cover over 1 million students, and investigates the interplay between federal and state regulation with regard to these plans.
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.