Meetings & Webinars

Two key federal data sources – the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS) – that will give a first look at health insurance coverage under full roll-out of the ACA are set to be released. These large-scale annual surveys will provide a picture of the immediate impacts of the ACA on coverage across the country and within the states while providing historical trend information for context. This webinar on September 22 will examine the new 2014 ACS and CPS coverage estimates with technical insight from SHADAC researchers and experts from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The rise in complex chronic conditions is contributing to increasing health care costs, poorer quality of life, and greater health inequities. While seen as preventable, tackling these conditions will require multisectoral, systems-level solutions. On July 23 at 1:00 p.m. EDT, this free webinar will detail a unique and longstanding multisectoral partnership to address asthma and poor housing conditions in Boston. This webinar will describe program, policy and systems change strategies that have improved multifamily housing and ensured that residents with asthma have access to healthier home environments.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Plan Choice Challenge” was a recent competition facilitated by Health 2.0 to spur the development of innovative technology applications that better support consumers as they shop for and purchase health insurance. This webinar featured background on the challenge from Health 2.0, an overview of the winning apps, and insights into what states should consider as they explore plan selection tools. States had a chance to ask questions of the vendors who developed the winning applications—Consumers’ CHECKBOOK (first place), Stride Health (second place) and Clear Health Analytics (third place).

With the proliferation of narrow network plans on the new marketplaces, consumers are being steered to plans that offer lower prices but limited choice. Insurers may offer narrow network plans to attract price-sensitive consumers who are willing to tradeoff network breadth for less costly premiums. Yet, anecdotal evidence suggests that the resulting provider networks may be narrower than expected, leaving consumers vulnerable to the financial burden of out-of-network care. This free webinar on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. EDT will address the potential policy responses to the growth of narrow network plans and will identify where more evidence is needed to inform researchers and decision makers.

Policymakers at the federal and state levels are working to develop strategies to address the health disparities that persist in the U.S. and promote health equity across geographic, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic divisions. This webinar on April 2 will discuss how state and federal policymakers can strengthen their efforts to achieve health equity by coordinating with one another to align payment models, create new partnerships, and build infrastructure and data systems to reduce health disparities. State leaders from Ohio and Louisiana will describe several initiatives supporting health equity and the federal programs they are leveraging to support their efforts. An official from the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) will describe federal resources available to help states advance health equity and identify opportunities for better alignment of federal and state activities.

The State Coverage Initiatives and Wakely Consulting Group hosted a meeting on the SHOP Exchange: Policy and Operations on December 15-16, 2011.

The National Business Group on Health released eight Employer Guides to assist employers who want to use comparative effectiveness research (CER) in their strategies for plan design, provider network selection, and consumer engagement.

Transcript from the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) webinar on IT gap analysis.

State Health Access Data Assistance Center put on a webinar discussing the eligiblity challenges that states face under the ACA's Mediciad provision and suggests several ways that states might choose to move forward.

SCI and GMMB presented steps for developing messages to reach target audiences, research on current messages related to health reform and the economy, and tips of the trade to help adapt messages to your state’s political environment.