Policy Briefs, August 2010
In Focus: The Implications of Health Reform for U.S. Charity Care Programs: Policy Considerations (Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, August 11, 2010)
Over the next several years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will lead to a historic expansion of health care coverage, reaching a large portion of the nation’s 46 million uninsured individuals. However, it’s expected that nearly 20 million will remain uninsured. The following paper highlights the challenges of serving this uninsured population, and the role that charity care programs can play in meeting the needs of the uninsured.
Brief Analyzes Temporary Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan Program (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, August 10, 2010)
One of the most popular provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during the debate leading up to its passage was the ban on insurers excluding patients with pre-existing conditions. While the blanket prohibition does not kick in until 2014, a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan program will offer uninsured adults with pre-existing conditions coverage in special state-based “pools” in the interim.
A new policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on issues surrounding the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan program, which will be operated by some of the states themselves and, in other states that have chosen not to take on this role, by the federal government.
The authors note that the $5 billion that Congress appropriated for the program is generally recognized as insufficient to cover all those who may be eligible until the broader reforms take effect. They conclude that although Congress specified a number of requirements for the program, difficult decisions may still have to be made about who is eligible, and what health care services will be covered, in order for the plans to stay within the spending constraints.