States Revisit Insurer Benefit Requirements, but Have Little Data on Consumers’ Experiences

The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) standards for essential health benefits are intended to ensure that health plans meet the coverage needs of individuals and small businesses. This blog post explains that most states are continuing to define their essential benefits much as they had originally—despite the opportunity to revisit this decision for 2017 and beyond. The authors explore how the states chose the health plan that would serve as the benchmark for essential benefits, and how the limited data available from insurers is making it challenging to assess whether the essential benefits policy is working.