Survey of Health Insurance Marketplace Assister Programs July 15, 2014 Report This survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation of Navigators and other Marketplace consumer assistance programs under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) offers a nationwide analysis of the number and distribution of assisters and people they helped. The report examines the experience of programs in conducting outreach and enrollment assistance during the first open enrollment period. It also reviews the nature of help consumers needed applying for Medicaid or premium tax credits and understanding health insurance choices, and discusses key factors that impacted the effectiveness of Marketplace Assister Programs.
JAMA Forum: How Well is the Affordable Care Act Working? July 9, 2014 Perspective Larry Levitt’s July 2014 post at the JAMA Forum assesses early indications of how well the Affordable Care Act is working.
How Obamacare’s Progress Makes Expanding Coverage Harder July 21, 2014 Perspective This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on July 21, 2014. The Affordable Care Act’s success meeting its initial enrollment goals and the repair of HealthCare.gov seem to have calmed the political waters for Obamacare. But the job of enrolling the uninsured gets harder, not easier, because the remaining uninsured…
Where are California’s Uninsured Now? Wave 2 of the Kaiser Family Foundation California Longitudinal Panel Survey July 30, 2014 Report This second wave of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s California uninsured survey assesses the impact of the Affordable Care Act to date on state residents who were uninsured prior to open enrollment. The results capture the share of previously uninsured Californians who gained coverage or remained uninsured, how they feel about and interact with their new coverage options and what barriers to getting insurance remain. The report examines breakouts by race, coverage type, and other demographic factors.
Amid Tensions, Legal Immigrants Fear Signing Up for Obamacare July 30, 2014 Perspective In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses new Kaiser Family Foundation survey findings about how fear of enforcement of immigration laws may be affecting Latino enrollment in the Affordable Care Act.
JAMA Forum: A To-Do List for the New CEO of the Federal Health Insurance Marketplace September 3, 2014 Perspective Larry Levitt’s July 2014 post at the JAMA Forum assesses early indications of how well the Affordable Care Act is working.
Connecting Consumers to Coverage: Lessons Learned from Assisters for Successful Outreach and Enrollment September 19, 2014 Issue Brief This brief highlights the experiences of Navigators and other Marketplace consumer assistance programs under the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) in conducting outreach and providing enrollment assistance during the ACA’s first open enrollment period. It provides insight into the outreach and enrollment strategies the assisters developed and identifies the keys to successfully overcoming the challenges of the first year. These insights are based on findings from focus groups with assisters in four cities: Miami, Florida; Houston, Texas; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Cleveland, Ohio.
Understanding How States Access the ACA Enhanced Medicaid Match Rates September 29, 2014 Issue Brief This brief reviews the rules around the enhanced federal medical assistance percentages (FMAP) provided in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the process for states to claim the enhanced matching funds and a discussion about what information the new data will provide looking forward.
Implementing the ACA: Medicaid Spending & Enrollment Growth for FY 2014 and FY 2015 October 14, 2014 Issue Brief This report provides an overview of Medicaid financing and Medicaid spending and enrollment growth with a focus on state fiscal years 2014 and 2015 (FY 2014 and FY 2015.) Findings are based on interviews and data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 14th annual survey of Medicaid directors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia conducted by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) survey with Health Management Associates (HMA). Findings examine changes in overall enrollment and spending growth and also look at expansion versus non-expansion states.
Challenges for the Next Obamacare Open Enrollment October 9, 2014 Perspective In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman pinpoints the Affordable Care Act’s five biggest challenges heading into the second open enrollment period.