Insights Column

Federal Laws Prohibit Government from Using Health Insurance Application Information for Deportation

As the March 31 deadline approaches for enrolling in health insurance in the marketplace, we would like to address one concern that could be unnecessarily holding back hundreds of thousands of familie...

Independents Want Improvements in the Affordable Care Act, Not Repeal

Americans want Congress to improve the Affordable Care Act, not repeal it, according to two recent polls from Kaiser Tracking Health and Garin Hart Yang Research Group. But a special election in F...

Women in the Coverage Gap Routinely Go Without Needed Health Care Services

This post was written by guest blogger, Danielle Garrett, Policy Analyst, National Women’s Law Center, dgarrett@nwlc.org. Access to affordable health coverage is important for everyone, but i...

Why Consumer Protections are Important to the Direct Enrollment Process

Health insurers and web brokers who follow certain federal rules (relating to topics such as protecting consumer information and displaying standardized disclaimers) are allowed to directly enroll c...

How to Find out If Your Employer’s Health Plan Is Good Enough

On March 5, the Department of the Treasury and IRS issued final rules on how employers report their employees’ health insurance. This was the last of a series of rules needed for implementing the re...

Basic Health Plan Final Rules: States Can Move Forward to Improve Coverage for Lower-Income Consumers

Basic Health Plans are an option under the Affordable Care Act that allows states to provide—as a more affordable alternative to marketplace plans—public health coverage that is the same or simila...

Challenging Health Insurance Premium Rate Increases: Part 1 – Preparing for Rate Review in 5 Steps

This is the first blog in our series that shares tips and best practices from consumer advocates in several states about how to effectively participate in the health insurance rate review process. The...

Health Insurance Marketplaces Need More Silver Health Plans with Affordable Upfront Cost-Sharing Amounts for Consumers

The Affordable Care Act has made health coverage more affordable for millions of lower- and moderate-income consumers by offering premium tax credits that lower the monthly cost of coverage. However, ...

Health Coverage: Many Moms, Children, and Families May Still Be Eligible to Enroll

This month we celebrate Mother’s Day. And here at Families USA, we can think of no better way to honor moms everywhere than by making sure moms, their children, and their families have access to aff...

How to Design Silver Plans with Lower Upfront Cost-Sharing in the Health Insurance Marketplace

As we discussed in our post last week, high deductibles in health insurance plans can create barriers to necessary care for low- and moderate-income consumers and are particularly concerning in silve...