Federal Health Insurance Marketplace

Trends in 2021 Affordable Care Act Marketplace Insurers, Locations

by Victoria Bailey

The number of insurance options in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace has increased since 2018 with nearly 1,500 counties having access to three or more marketplace payers, a Health Affairs...

Medicaid Expansion May Be Key To Permanently Closing Coverage Gap

by Victoria Bailey

The federal government could temporarily close the Medicaid coverage gap with the Build Back Better Act, but permanent coverage may ultimately depend upon state legislation around Medicaid expansion,...

How COVID-19 Impacted The Individual Health Insurance Marketplace

by Kelsey Waddill

The individual health insurance marketplace saw changes in enrollment and in enrollees’ healthcare spending risk as a result of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, a Health Affairs study...

ACA 2022 Open Enrollment Starts Off With 133K New Enrollees

by Kelsey Waddill

After Affordable Care Act marketplace 2022 open enrollment launched on November 1, 2021, CMS reported that the first week ended with 773,557 plan selections. Of those nearly 774,000 plan selections on...

Impact of Fixed American Rescue Plan Act Subsidies on Families

by Victoria Bailey

Nearly one million uninsured children and parents could gain healthcare coverage if the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) subsidies become permanent, according to an Urban Institute report. The enhanced...

CMS Makes Changes to Open Enrollment Period, Introduces New SEP

by Victoria Bailey

CMS has taken several steps to improve and expand access to healthcare coverage, including extending the open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The agency added 30 days to the...

Affordable Care Act Marketplace Sees Boost in Diversity, Savings

by Kelsey Waddill

HHS has announced that 2.8 million people gained health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace during the special enrollment period. This influx of enrollees raised marketplace...

American Rescue Plan Act Subsidies Reduce State Premiums by 40%

by Victoria Bailey

Healthcare costs have declined for consumers during the special enrollment period, largely due to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) subsidies, according to new data from CMS. The Biden...

Public Option Health Plans Continue to Progress at State Levels

by Victoria Bailey

Efforts to create a federal public option health plan may have stalled, but public options on the state level are slowly emerging, according to a Manatt Health mid-year update. While President...

CMS Leads Final Outreach Push During Special Enrollment Period

by Victoria Bailey

CMS is leading a new campaign to boost the number of Americans who sign up for health insurance on the federal insurance marketplace during the special enrollment period. The Biden administration and...

Community First Expands into TX Affordable Care Act Marketplace

by Victoria Bailey

Community First Health Plans (Community First) is joining the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace with the help of a member engagement technology company. The payer’s move to join the...

SCOTUS Denies Petition on Cost-Sharing Reduction Reimbursements

by Kelsey Waddill

The Supreme Court has denied a petition to hear a case brought against the US by Maine Community Health Options and Community Health Choice on cost-sharing reduction reimbursements. According to the...

Two Critical Impacts of 2021 Special Enrollment Period Gains

by Kelsey Waddill

The 2021 special enrollment period gains on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces could have downstream impacts on enrollment-related factors such as customer service investments and risk...

CMS Supports Modernizing Enrollment on State-Based Exchanges

by Kelsey Waddill

CMS is offering $20 million in grants to states in order to update their state-based exchanges in light of the spike in Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollment. “Our State-based Marketplaces...

Costs Continue to Drop on Federal Health Insurance Marketplace

by Kelsey Waddill

Enrollees are taking advantage of the opportunity to secure lower out-of-pocket healthcare costs on the federal health insurance marketplace during the special enrollment period, a recent CMS report...

HHS: ACA Premiums Drop 25% for New Enrollees on HealthCare.gov

by Kelsey Waddill

HHS announced that the federal health insurance market, HealthCare.gov, has gained nearly 940,000 new enrollees as a result of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits and the special enrollment...

HHS, 23 Orgs Boost ACA Enrollment Outreach in Black Communities

by Kelsey Waddill

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is redoubling its Affordable Care Act enrollment outreach efforts in order to increase awareness in the Black community about coverage options...

Top 3 Policies to Reduce Uninsurance in the ACA Coverage Gap

by Kelsey Waddill

For the millions of Americans who fall in the ACA coverage gap, three policy proposals could improve their chances of finding affordable healthcare coverage, a brief from Kaiser Family Foundation...

Rectifying the ACA Family Glitch Could Drive ACA Premiums Down

by Kelsey Waddill

Approximately 5.1 million individuals are caught in the Affordable Care Act’s “family glitch,” according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) analysis. Under the Affordable...

5 States With Highest SEP Enrollment Rejected Medicaid Expansion

by Kelsey Waddill

CMS has released special enrollment period enrollment levels data, which has seen more than 500,000 new enrollees and will last another four months. “Access to quality, affordable health care is...