The Uncertain Future of Policies to Promote Access and Affordability Put in Place During the COVID-19 Pandemic May 19, 2022 Perspective In this column for the JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt highlights four changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic that helped to make health care more accessible and affordable and the prospects for those changes to telehealth, COVID-19 coverage, Medicaid and marketplace premiums continuing beyond the pandemic’s end.
For ACA Enrollees, How Much Premiums Rise Next Year is Mostly up to Congress May 18, 2022 Blog Most customers with coverage through Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces will face big premium increases next year if Congress doesn’t extend the temporary enhanced tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. If the outcome isn’t clear by summer, fall open enrollment could be a mess.
Many Workers, Particularly at Small Firms, Face High Premiums to Enroll in Family Coverage, Leaving Many in the ‘Family Glitch’ April 12, 2022 Issue Brief Data from the KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey demonstrates that some workers face very high contribution amounts for family coverage, including 12% who would have pay at least $10,000 annually in premiums for a family of four. These are the workers most likely to benefit from a fix to the ‘family glitch’.
Without Build Back Better, Will the End of the Public Health Emergency Leave Even More People Uninsured? March 2, 2022 Blog Continuous enrollment in Medicaid and enhanced premium assistance have helped millions afford and maintain coverage, but those gains could be reversed as the public emergency ends and if the provisions like those in the Build Back Better Act fail to pass.
Network Adequacy Standards and Enforcement February 4, 2022 Issue Brief Health plan networks affect patient access to care. This brief reviews options for setting and enforcing network adequacy standards and tools for making differences in plan networks more transparent.
Build Back Better Would Change the Ways Low-Income People get Health Insurance December 14, 2021 Issue Brief The Build Back Better Act would make a number of changes to the way people get health insurance and how health care is financed, including by temporarily closing the Medicaid coverage gap.
County-Level Analysis Finds ACA Premiums are Falling in Many Areas of the Country, Though Changes Vary by County and Type of Plan December 7, 2021 News Release Premiums for the Affordable Care Act Marketplace benchmark silver plan are decreasing 3.1 percent on average across the country – the fourth year in a row that benchmark premiums have fallen – though the changes vary by county, a new KFF county-by-county analysis finds. The benchmark plan premiums are important…
Efforts to Increase Marketplace Enrollment During Open Enrollment Could Boost Medicaid Coverage, Too November 4, 2021 Blog As the ninth open enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplaces begins, enhanced Marketplace premium help along with increased funding for outreach and enrollment assistance mean there are more affordable coverage options for the millions of people who remain uninsured and more help available to connect those individuals to coverage.
Ten Changes to Watch in Open Enrollment 2022 October 29, 2021 Issue Brief Even as the ninth annual Open Enrollment period gets underway, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces continue to evolve and important changes are expected. This issue brief discusses what changes to watch out for in the coming enrollment period.
Insurer Filings Suggest COVID-19 Pandemic Will Not Drive Health Spending In 2022 October 18, 2021 Issue Brief This brief reviews initial 2022 premium rate filings for Marketplace-participating individual market insurers in 13 states and the District of Columbia. Most expect health utilization patterns to return to pre-pandemic levels and therefore not factoring in any impact on their 2022 premiums.