With the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), more people than ever before are eligible for financial help to pay for a health insurance plan. Estimates are that on average, 4 out of 5 customers can now find a health plan for less than $10 a month—a remarkable step to provide more affordable coverage, for more Americans. To promote these significant savings, Marketplaces are launching integrated and innovative outreach campaigns—including tapping into existing public health and COVID-19 vaccination efforts—to reach residents with this important information and get them enrolled. As vaccine distribution is increasingly going local, state marketplaces are tapping into trusted partners like local community centers, faith groups, and small businesses as well as coordinating with state and federal agencies to combine education and outreach to drive enrollment. As Marketplaces look for ways to ensure equitable outreach and enrollment, especially as our nation recovers from COVID-19, this expert perspective highlights a range of communications and outreach strategies to align with vaccine education and distribution.

The rollout of vaccines designed to end the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has begun in earnest across the United States. Currently, each state is responsible for determining how to allocate, distribute, track, and report its vaccine allotment from the federal government, although the federal government is expected to take on a larger role under a new Biden administration. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by both higher risks of infection and poorer health outcomes, and many are concerned that an inequitable or inefficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine may further widen health inequities among these populations. One way to help ensure the equitable administration of COVID-19 vaccine is to track vaccine administration disaggregated for key subpopulations, such as gender, race and ethnicity, and geography (e.g., urban vs. rural). This expert perspective reviews the data states are currently publicly reporting related to vaccine administration and provides an interactive map that explores the extent to which all 50 states are reporting vaccine administration data breakdowns by age, gender, race, ethnicity, provider type, and level of geography. The expert perspective also discusses what current data sources states are using to provide this information and provides an overview of options states can consider to collect information about the administration of COVID-19 vaccine in populations via survey data.

State health updates as of May 28, 2021.

A key provision of the American Rescue Plan is the establishment of the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for eligible state, local, territorial and Tribal governments to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency. On May 10, the Department of the Treasury released information relating to the Fiscal Recovery Funds. This expert perspective provides a short summary of the eligible uses, key areas for comment and what to expect next related to Fiscal Recovery Funds.

State health updates as of May 21, 2021.

State health updates as of May 14, 2021.

State health updates as of May 7, 2021.

State health updates as of April 30, 2021.

On April 30, 2021, the U.S. Departments of Health & Human Services (HHS) and Treasury released the final 2022 Notice of Benefit & Payment Parameters (NBPP), the annual rule governing core provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the operation of the marketplaces, standards for insurers, and the risk adjustment program. This rule finalizes the majority of provisions included in a proposed rule published on November 25, 2020, although several proposals were finalized in a rule published on January 19, 2021. This expert perspective reviews provisions of the final rule of particular import to the state-based marketplaces (SBMs) and state insurance regulators.

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act enacted on March 11, 2021 establishes a state option to provide community mobile crisis intervention services for a five-year period beginning in April 2022. As an incentive to state adoption, the law provides for an 85 percent enhanced federal matching rate for qualifying services for the first three years of state coverage. The new mobile crisis provision arrives just as many states and localities are exploring strategies to address the worsening behavioral health as well as preparing for implementation of 988, the new, national hotline for behavioral health crises. For states and localities reviewing their policing procedures, the new option also could be used to support state efforts to refine the role of law enforcement in responding to behavioral health crisis. This expert perspective provides an overview and state considerations on the state option to provide community mobile crisis interventions services included in the American Rescue Plan.