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

The promise of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was not just to broaden access to health insurance, but also to enable more Americans to have coverage they could count on if they became sick. The health law sought to ensure that coverage would meet the needs of consumers by requiring that insurance for individuals and small businesses include 10 categories of “essential health benefits.” In 2012, states helped determine the package of essential benefits that health plans in their state were required to offer starting in 2014. Though states recently had the chance to revisit this decision for 2017 and beyond, most stayed the course and will continue to define essential health benefits much as they had before.        
Source: The Commonwealth Fund: Blog - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: blogs