Insurance Market Reform

The American Bar Association Section of Taxation sent comments on March 23, 2011, recommending that the final rule provide relief and clarification for grandfathered plans.  

Guam's letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requesting a Medical Loss Ratio waiver.

This update draws on research conducted by the authors for the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

This report is a collection of data from many sources and provides baseline demographics and features of California's individual and small group markets.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has several provisions that hope to mitigate the rapidly rising tide of uninsured young adults. Young adults happen to be one of the largest uninsured segments of the United States population.

Michigan is adding two more health insurance plans to its high risk insurance pool in an effort to cover more uninsured individuals with chronic illnesses. The new plans have lower premiums and higher deductibles compared to the plans currently offered, but all plans will offer the same coverage.

The Labor Department released its survey to help HHS determine what is an "essential benefit" which will determine what insurers will have to cover in the state exchanges. The study mainly looked at large employer benefits.

Value-Based Purchasing and Consumer Engagement Strategies in State Employee Health Plans, a SCI report written by Bailit Purchasing, LLC, is a purchaser guide that lays out concise descriptions of two principal means for improving the value that states can gain through administering State Employee Health Plans (SEHPs): value-based purchasing and consumer engagement. 

On November 17, State Coverage Initiatives hosted a webinar that explored the pros and cons of the Basic Health Program. This option under the Affordable Care Act lets states provide their low-income residents ineligible for Medicaid with coverage that may be more affordable than subsidized health plans in the exchange.

Rising insurance premiums and shortages of primary care physicians are two trends that have focused state policymakers’ attention on the functioning of their local health care marketplaces. In addition, many state officials have expressed concern over the unprecedented number of hospital mergers during the last decade.