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November 28, 2023

Innovation In State And Federal ACA Exchange Programs Interesting article on policy brief from the Commonwealth Fund on various innovations occurring in the state-based and federal Exchange programs.  As of 2023, 20 states operate a state-based marketplace and 30 rely on Healthcare.gov for sign-ups. Some state-based exchanges use the federal website for enrollment. States are experimenting with enrollment campaigns, simplified enrollment, auto-enrollment programs, health-equity requirements, and more.  Article at link.  The actual study is here: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2023/nov/policy-innovations-affordable-care-act-marketplaces #aca #obamacare #exchanges #commonwealthfund Link to Article Mark Cuban’s Firm Partners With Expion Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs (CPD) is partnering with Expion to tackle the high costs of specialty drugs.  A press release says CPD will integrate into Expion’s dynamic pricing technology. It says “consumers can be confident they are getting a fair price and the convenience of medication mailed directly to their homes.”  #cuban #costplusdrugs #drugpricing #expion Link to Article Healthcare Bankruptcies

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November 27, 2023

Pro Publica Article on Health Plans Not Covering Mandated Services Pro Publica article recounts where health plans have not covered mandated services in state laws.  It is easy to sensationalize mistakes, but health plans every day are approving treatments timely. (May require subscription.) #plandenials #healthplans Link to Article Will New Marketing Rules Hurt Big Plan Performance? Interesting article that says the new Medicare Advantage (MA) marketing rules could mean smaller plans now have a fighting chance against bigger ones, which seemed to enter into the variable and extraordinary compensation with agents and other entities to attract members.  A new marketing clampdown in the 2025 rule would stop most of this. Note, too, a plan official saying that there may be loopholes in the new proposed rule. (May require subscription.) #marketing #medicareadvantage Link to Article Per Worker Healthcare Costs Increased 5.2% in 2023 More evidence that inflation is increasing for employer-provided

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The Importance of Price Transparency In Healthcare Reform

While website postings of hospital and health plan negotiated prices may not seem of particular importance, the nation’s modest move toward price transparency should bear fruit over time. It is one of the more important initiatives we have seen in healthcare reform as of late. With interoperability of data, price transparency will finally give us some useful information on the inner workings (even machinations) of negotiations between health plans and providers. What are the price transparency requirements? Both health plans (effective July 1, 2022) and hospitals (effective January 1, 2021) have been required to post various pricing information on their websites. Hospitals must report all their gross and net charges in a machine-readable format as well as at least 300 shoppable services (cash and payer prices) in a consumer-friendly format. Health plans must report allowed amounts and contracted rates for hospitals and other provider services for all in-network covered services

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