September 2010

Health Reform GPS
Launched in April 2010 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Health Reform GPS is a comprehensive Web portal that offers users the information and insights needed to cover, analyze and implement the new health reform law. Among the portal’s offerings are regularly posted “Implementation Briefs” that explain the changes made by the law, provide background, describe the federal implementation process and timetable, and identify the questions and challenges policy-makers will be grappling with in the months ahead.

• In a comprehensive table, the editors of Health Reform GPS looked at key agency implementation actions to date, as well as the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
  
  
• Appeals of Claims for Benefits brief examines the standards established in the Affordable Care Act for patient’s rights to appeal denials of coverage by a group health plan or health insurer.
• Sara Rosenbaum, editor of Health Reform GPS, offers her commentary on the issue.
• A follow-up commentary released on September 22 summarizes the impact of a recently released rule by the Department of Labor, further explaining the appeals process established.
  
  
• Health Reform and ERISA brief delves into the background of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and explores how the law will be affected by health reform.
• Sara Rosenbaum followed up with a brief comment that summarizes the Affordable Care Act’s effect on ERISA.

Burning a Hole in the Out-of-Pocket
While more Americans under 65 with health coverage from their employer faced problems paying medical bills between 2003 and 2007, increased out-of-pocket spending on health services played only a small part in the rising financial stress for families, according to a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).