Coverage

The New and Enhanced Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards Will Help Eliminate Disparities in Health and Health Care

This April, the Office of Minority Health at the Department of Health and Human Services released the enhanced National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Heal...

Early HIV Detection Saves Lives. Get Tested Now!

More than 10 years ago, a very close loved one told me that he was HIV positive. As you can imagine, it was shocking and devastating news. Shocking, because I never thought that HIV (Human Immunodefic...

HHS Announces that the Medical Loss Ratio Provision Saved Health Care Consumers $4 Billion in 2012

On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that, thanks to the Affordable Care Act’s medical loss ratio (MLR) provision, 77.8 million Americans paid $3.4 billion less ...

New Findings Show Health Care Law Protects Young Adults from High Medical Costs

Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, more than one quarter of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 in the United States did not have health insurance. However, since a provision ...

The Historic Immigration Reform Bill and What It Means for Health Coverage and Care for Immigrants

The Senate passed an historic immigration reform bill last Thursday. While the House of Representatives still must pass a bill, this legislation could have far-reaching effects on the health of the mi...

Kaiser Family Foundation Study Finds That, Contrary to Popular Belief, Young Adults Believe They Need Health Insurance

In 2011, young adults aged 19 to 34 made up roughly 38 percent of the nation’s uninsured population. While some have argued that this is because young adults, often referred to as “young invincib...

The Affordable Care Act Makes Mental Health Care More Accessible and Affordable

The Affordable Care Act improves access to mental health care by offering people with mental illness the opportunity to get affordable health insurance, as well as by including mental health care and ...

Young Adults Support the Affordable Care Act and Are Likely to Sign Up for Coverage

There seems to be a catch-22 when it comes to enrolling young, healthy people in the new health insurance marketplaces (sometimes called exchanges): They are critical to the success of the marketplace...

California’s Health Insurance Marketplace Releases Lower-than-Expected Premium Rates

Last Week, Covered California, the health insurance marketplace that California is establishing under the Affordable Care Act, released premium rates for 2014 health insurance plans. Before the rel...

New Report Showcases Large Premium Savings Due to Rate Review Provision in Affordable Care Act

Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a report showing that 6.8 million Americans have saved an estimated $1.2 billion on health insurance premiums in the individual ...