Federal Officials Clarify Rules On Getting New Health Coverage After A Move
The new rules should help make sure people understand when they are eligible for a special sign-up period if they move.
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Michelle Andrews is a contributing writer and former columnist for KFF Health News. She has been writing about health care for more than 15 years. Her work has appeared frequently in The New York Times, where she wrote the Money and Medicine column and contributed regular news and features. Her work has also been published in Money, Fortune Small Business, National Geographic and Women’s Health magazines, among others. Michelle previously worked as a senior writer at U.S. News & World Report and at SmartMoney magazines. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in journalism from Columbia University.
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The new rules should help make sure people understand when they are eligible for a special sign-up period if they move.
People sometimes put together a variety of policies, such as short-term and critical illness plans, instead of buying more expensive comprehensive health coverage. But they likely will face federal health law penalties.
Officials have proposed establishing six options for the exchange plans that would set standard deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket spending limits, among other things.
Many insurers leave out information about abortion coverage on the summary of benefits and coverage.
Urban Institute researchers found that premiums and out-of-pocket costs are still a major concern for people seeking coverage on the health care marketplaces.
KHN’s consumer columnist answers questions about how people can handle moving between the government health plan for low-income residents and the private plans offered on the federal health law’s exchanges.
Obese employees at the University of Pennsylvania were promised an insurance premium discount valued at $550 if they lost 5 percent of their weight, but the incentive failed.
The plans can help workers cover their high deductibles, but the policies also have limitations.
The health law waived Medicare’s Part B deductible and dropped the 20 percent copayment for the preventive tests.
Two physician groups say the government’s regulations for out-of-network emergency care payments will cost consumers more because insurers will pay less.
Four foundations joined forces to provide $10 million in new funding to the OpenNotes project, which will help an estimated 50 million people nationwide gain access to clinical notes, and allow researchers to evaluate how it affects health outcomes and costs.
The authors of the law mandated the program to try to generate more competition in areas where few plans were available. But the effort has stalled.
The courts are designed as an alternative for people with mental health issues facing legal charges as a way to get help through community services outside of jail.
Overcrowding in the emergency department can lead to worse outcomes for patients but too few hospitals implement successful programs.
KHN’s consumer columnist answers questions about the effects a change of income can have on an individual’s subsidy for insurance premiums and dental care for Medicare beneficiaries.
The prevention task force also recommends that patients with high blood sugar levels be referred to nutrition and exercise counseling. Under the health law, the services would be covered by insurance without cost sharing.
A 10 percent bump in pay, a health law provision that sunsets at the end of the year, was designed to help balance the reimbursement levels between primary care providers and specialists.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that Medicaid turned down requests for new expensive drugs to treat hepatitis C 46 percent of the time, while private insurers barred them 10 percent and Medicare 5 percent.
Aetna is rolling out a special gold-level plan for 2016 that is aimed at providing better care for people with diabetes in the hopes of keeping them healthier—and their costs down. But it’s not clear the plans are a good buy.
Only 16 percent of the popular plans cover all 10 of the most common drug regimens and charge less than $100 a month in consumer cost sharing, according to a report by Avalere Health.
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