Student health plans have long been a source of coverage for college students who do not have other options available. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services redefined student health plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), requiring that they be treated like individual health insurance. This means that students buying these plans through their college or university now have the same protections available to them as if they bought a plan in the individual market. It also means that states and the federal government have a new role in oversight of these plans.

The State Network team mourns the recent passing of our dear friend and colleague, Andy Hyman. Andy was the father of the State Network, seeing the value in connecting states with the expertise they need to achieve the vision of coverage that drove him every day.

In a recent appearance at the Woodrow Wilson School, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke about “The Future of Health Care in America.” Her discussion highlighted several aspects of the Affordable Care Act, which she described as one of the most significant policy achievements in recent history. The State Network team at Princeton had an opportunity to speak with Secretary Sebelius, and to share insights from some ongoing work in the states.

Integrating agents and brokers into the ACA’s plan enrollment and renewal process, familiarizing them with public insurance programs, and generally helping them grow comfortable with the health law will go a long way toward stabilizing the exchanges for years to come.

This week, I had the pleasure of serving on a panel at AcademyHealth’s National Health Policy Conference on the topic of Marketplaces. I was privileged to join Dr. Mandy Cohen from CCIIO and Professor Mark Hall of Wake Forest University in a discussion of trends moving forward in Marketplace competition, moderated by Dr. John McDonough of Harvard. The key takeaway was that the theme of the next open enrollment will be decision support tools for consumers to choose the best plan for them.

Last fall, SHVS hosted a webinar on how states can align performance measure sets, highlighting Buying Value’s Online Measure Selection tool. On Tuesday, February 24, the Buying Value team will host a new webinar about the updated tool and provide tips on how state purchasers can get the most from this unique resource.

Late last year, State Health and Value Strategies sponsored a workshop of eight states, convened by the National Association of Medicaid Directors, to discuss the integration of behavioral health care with primary care. Attendees from numerous state agencies shared the successes they’ve achieved in measuring quality, sharing data, and ensuring that beneficiaries have access to high-quality care.

Our experts at Georgetown have developed a new resource designed for consumer services personnel in state insurance regulatory agencies. The resource updates Chapter 10—Marketplace Financial Assistance—of the ACA Consumer Services Toolkit, first developed by Georgetown in 2014, and adds a new Chapter 11: Tax Issues Related to Marketplace Financial Assistance. Although the marketplaces and tax professionals are the most appropriate sources of premium tax credit information, it is likely that consumers with questions will still contact their insurance regulators for assistance.

This week, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell announced an initiative that mirrors efforts underway in many states – changing the way government pays for health care in order to focus on health and value. The Obama administration’s new plan for Medicare has three parts…

Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms recently released two issue briefs on behalf of State Network, one on reference pricing and the other on excepted benefits. The briefs are in direct response to specific questions raised by several states on these two topics…