2018

Six Reasons Work Requirements Are a Bad Idea for Medicaid

HHS has issued its first two approvals for state Medicaid waivers that make a person's health coverage contingent on their work status. Kentucky and Indiana are the first states to get approval for wa...

Innovative Options to Cut Health Insurance Costs by Expanding the Circle of Coverage

This report explores near-term state options for lowering insurance costs in the individual market by expanding the circle of coverage, focusing on policy approaches that are innovative, practical, an...

Association and Short-Term Health Plans: A Lose-Lose Proposition

Under the guise of creating low-cost health options, the Trump administration has two new regulations that will have dire consequences for two groups: Young and healthy consumers lured into cut-r...

The Dangers of Trump Administration Junk Insurance Policies

The current market for individual insurance consists of one pool which shares risk between more and less healthy consumers. People with preexisting conditions, children with complex needs, pregnant wo...

Association Health Plan Rule Would Make It Easier to Sell Junk Insurance

On June 19, 2018, the Trump administration released a final regulation that will increase the sale of junk insurance in the form of Association Health Plans (AHPs). This new and dangerous step in th...

Transforming the Federal Individual Mandate into State Health Insurance Down Payments

The Republican tax plan that President Trump recently signed into law ended the federal government’s enforcement of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate. Starting in tax season in 20...

Idaho Weighs Move to Pre-Obamacare Health Insurance Protections

Idaho’s governor wants to roll back insurance coverage in the Gem State to the days when it was more expensive to get health care if you had a pre-existing condition. Governor Butch Otter and Lt....

Federal and State Action Can Prevent Millions of Laid-Off Workers From Becoming Uninsured

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped the country achieve remarkable strides reducing the number of uninsured from 48 million in 2010, when the law passed, to 28 million today. One important f...

10 Essential Health Benefits Insurance Plans Must Cover Under the Affordable Care Act

One popular aspect of the Affordable Care Act is its requirement that all individual and small group health plans (for people who don’t have traditional job-based coverage) cover important health be...

New Study Shows Why Maryland Families Need the Health Insurance Down Payment Plan

On February 26, 2018, the Urban Institute released a report showing the need for Maryland’s health insurance down payment plan, called the “Protect Maryland Health Care Act of 2018.” According ...