Health Policy Briefs: Health Insurance Exchanges

On October 1, 2013, if all goes as planned, state health exchanges will fire up their respective web portals and kick off open-enrollment season, as part of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Individuals and small businesses will be able to purchase health insurance coverage that will take effect on January 1, 2014. A new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides a primer on the exchanges and what lies ahead. It expands and updates points made in several previously released Health Policy Briefs. Topics covered in this brief include: . What’s in the law? The original ACA intended for states to either establish a state-based exchange or default to a federally run system. However, since the ACA’s enactment, other models have evolved: the state partnership exchange, the marketplace plan management exchange, the bifurcated exchange, and the supported state-based exchange. The brief explains how each will operate. What’s the debate? The brief describes some of the issues states faced when deciding whether to run their own exchanges or to leave the task to the federal government. These include states’ ability to regulate and maintain control over their insurance markets; the importance of a customized consumer outreach plan for a state’s population; and the exchange’s willingness to coordinate with state and federal programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, allowing consumers to seamlessly enroll in eithe...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Tags: All Categories Consumers Health Reform Insurance Medicaid Medicare States Source Type: blogs