Facebook
Twitter
Private Insurance Reform
Current public debates about health insurance are plagued by misinformation. Too often, proposals to make insurance markets more competitive are thinly-veiled efforts designed to help insurers to avoid risk. Reducing benefits and rolling back consumer protections shifts the cost of illness disproportionately onto sicker people, undermining the core purpose of health insurance. Community Catalyst works to implement meaningful health insurance reform that improves access to care and decreases financial risk for patients and makes insurance more accessible for small business.
- April 25, 2013 Premium Rate Impact under the Affordable Care Act Community Catalyst’s fact sheet looks at some of the recent information on sudden premium increases due to coverage changes in the ACA. Between federal subsidies, Medicaid, CHIP, parental coverage, and catastrophic plans for young people, the scope of rate impact is significantly limited. Consumers will also be receiving more value for their dollars in their benefit packages.
- November 19, 2012 Strategies for a Robust Partnership or Federally Facilitated Exchange: Same Priorities, Different Strategies This brief highlights how advocacy strategies will shift if a state pursues a Partnership or a Federally Facilitated Exchange model. While consumer goals are consistent across types of Exchange, each Exchange model will have different state and federal roles that require a fresh look at advocacy strategy.
- November 19, 2012 Health Insurance Exchange Models This fact sheet highlights the key features of each Exchange type and some issues for state advocates to keep in mind.
- November 19, 2012 Talking Points for Federally Facilitated Exchange and Partnership Exchange Decisions These talking points will help you craft your message for responding to a variety of scenarios as states alter their position on Exchanges.
- November 01, 2012 Moving Forward on Exchanges Despite Roadblocks Although on the surface states appear to be deadlocked on advancing state-based Exchanges, consumer advocates across the country have been actively involved in the process of building Exchanges in their states.
- August 01, 2012 Essential Health Benefits: Transparency Is Top Priority States must select an essential health benefits benchmark plan by September 2012 or the federal government will select a benchmark for the state. Transparency is one way to support all consumers through the state’s selection of a benchmark and beyond. Transparency creates opportunity for informed consumer input, setting the stage for a dialogue where all stakeholders are working from the same facts.
- July 17, 2012 Medical Loss Ratio Advocacy Toolkit We’ve put together a toolkit on the medical-loss ratio to help you publicize and promote the rebates. We encourage you to use this public education opportunity to promote the ACA and what it does for consumers.
- June 07, 2012 Consumer Rights to Mental Health Treatment: State Responsibility for Enforcing the Federal Parity Act A fact sheet created with Health Law Advocates explaining the 2008 Wellstone-Domenici Parity Act and issues surrounding state enforcement.
- May 02, 2012 Assessing Consumer Protections in the Final Exchange Regulations Based on Community Catalyst’s work with advocates to develop state Exchanges around the country, we have updated a document that highlights 10 important priorities for consumers.
- March 15, 2012 Health Insurance 101 This go-to resource of private insurance provides an overview, information about ACA provisions, other national law and key regulation concepts.
- March 08, 2012 Promoting Racial and Ethnic Health Equity Through Exchanges Health disparities among racial and ethnic groups are persistent and drive up the cost of care for everyone. Despite national and local efforts to address disparities, people of color continue to experience poorer health than their white counterparts. Health Insurance Exchanges provide paths to advance racial and ethnic health equity.
- December 21, 2011 Principles for Essential Health Benefits Advocacy Given the wide-ranging implications that the essential health benefits package will have on consumers, we suggest using principles to unite consumer groups in their advocacy for a robust essential health benefits package.
- September 30, 2011 Best Practices for Creating Consumer-Oriented Exchanges: Strategies for 2012 In working with advocates in states that have passed - or are working to pass - an Exchange law, Community Catalyst has identified common strategies that advance consumer priorities.
- August 30, 2011 The Essential Health Benefits Process: What Advocates Need to Know Now As the HHS determines what will be part of the essential health benefits package (EHB), advocates will have the opportunity for input. This brief gives an overview of EHB and the process for developing the standards.
- July 27, 2011 Comments on Rules Relating to Internal Claims and Appeals and External Review Process for Group Health Plans Our recommendation focuses on the 10 percent threshold for translation and oral interpretation of private plan materials in internal reviews and appeals. Translation and interpretation of materials in the health insurance context is critical because almost 20 percent of the United States’ population speaks a language other than English at home.
- July 07, 2011 Leveling the Playing Field: Private Insurance Oversight in the Exchanges This presentation gives an overview on adverse selection, rate review and rating rules in the Exchanges.
- June 17, 2011 Navigators: Guiding People Through the Exchange Navigators are critical to helping people who purchase coverage through their state Exchange understand their options and assist with enrollment.
- May 18, 2011 Rate Review: A Way to Limit Increases to Health Insurance Premiums This fact sheet provides an overview of rate review basics and how rate review protects consumers from unfair prices and unexpected increases in premiums.
- May 18, 2011 Template for Creating State-Specific Rate Review Fact Sheets The chart provides general arguments using national data to explain why rate review is important and questions that will guide state-level research.
- March 01, 2011 Exchanges: Top Ten Priorities for Consumer Advocates This list of priorities will begin to answer some of the many outstanding questions in order to help state advocates build strong Exchanges that help consumers’ ability to access quality, affordable health insurance across the country.
- November 22, 2010 Steps for Consumer Engagement on Private Insurance Reforms in the Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains sweeping reforms of some of the worst health insurance industry abuses, and makes changes that will allow individuals and families to obtain and keep quality health care coverage. This fact sheet provides strategies to help ensure strong consumer input in implementation of private insurance reforms.
- October 05, 2010 Comments on planning and establishment of state-level Exchanges Community Catalyst and Health Care for All's comments to the Department of Health and Human Services regarding Exchange-related provisions in title I of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- June 07, 2010 How to Build and Maintain Relationships with State Officials Maintaining and cultivating relationships with the national health care reform implementation decision-makers will ensure you - and consumers - have a say in how the laws are implemented in your state.
- March 19, 2010 Gains in the States: Consumer Advocacy and Federal-State Alliances Help Expand Health Coverage Despite a deep economic recession and the promise of national health care reform, states advanced access to quality affordable health care in 2009.
- August 31, 2009 Progress Despite Barriers: Public demand spurs expansion of health coverage Many states expanded health care coverage in 2008, despite the economic crisis that exacerbated the burden of health costs on state budgets and forced states to make drastic spending cuts, according to two nationwide surveys. Drawing on public demand for quality, affordable health care, consumer advocates provided much of the impetus for these expansions.
- July 17, 2007 A Consumer Guide to Creating a Health Insurance Connector An easy-to-read report explaining health insurance Connectors, and outlining six policy elements to help Connectors reduce the cost of insurance, make coverage available to all, and reduce the number of uninsured.
- July 16, 2007 A Consumer Checklist for Creating a Health Insurance Connector While a Connector can improve the functioning of the health insurance market in a state, it needs to work within a certain climate and contain certain elements as outlined in this checklist.
- April 01, 2007 Affordable Health Care for All: What Does Affordable Really Mean? To respond to a gap in literature on affordability, Community Catalyst takes a first step in creating a new methodology for defining affordability of health insurance by drawing together several different studies. This is done by applying this framework to Massachusetts as a case study.
- June 01, 2005 Access to Affordable Insurance for Individuals and Small Businesses: Barriers and Potential Solutions This paper is directed to health access advocates. Its goal is to provide enough information so that they can educate their constituencies – many of whom are small business owners or employees -- on why coverage costs are so high and availability so limited. It also addresses what’s wrong – or right – with the approaches that have been proposed or tried to date to make coverage more affordable and accessible. Finally, it recommends a package of reforms that offer the best hope for providing relief without placing undue burden on those who are in less than perfect health.
- April 01, 1999 Medicare HMO Marketing and Information: Keeping the Focus on What Consumers Need April 1999 edition of "States of Health"