The Affordable Care Act and its effect on employers
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) is designed to expand coverage to millions of Americans, yet the ACA largely preserves the system of health insurance sponsored by employers that covers a majority of Americans. Nevertheless, the ACA includes several provisions that directly affect employers and can influence their decisions about whether to offer coverage. Before many …
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Affordable Care Act funding: An analysis of grant programs under health care reform
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010, and funds were appropriated to expand access to care, implement broad private insurance reforms, and enhance the public health infrastructure. In order to administer these new grant programs, the ACA created a number of new funding sources in the following categories: Community-based prevention: Includes …
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Rate analysis: Michigan’s 2015 Health Insurance Marketplace
On November 15, 2014, Michigan’s ACA Health Insurance Marketplace launched its second annual open enrollment period. During this period, which runs until February 15, 2015, Michigan residents can shop for health plans and determine if they are eligible for financial assistance to decrease the cost of coverage for the coming year. Compared to the first open enrollment period, the Michigan …
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Primary care capacity in Michigan: How are physicians responding?
On April 1, 2014, Michigan expanded access to Medicaid to people whose income was less than 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, or about $32,900 for a family of four. As of December 2014, over 470,000 Michiganders had enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program, known as Healthy Michigan, and over 270,000 Michiganders had enrolled in coverage through the Affordable …
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Michigan: Baseline report—state-level field network study of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded health insurance coverage in 2014 through two key provisions: premium tax credits offered through the health insurance marketplace and the state-option Medicaid expansion. Michigan has taken a mixed approach to implementing the ACA. It very nearly became the first state led entirely by Republicans to create a health insurance exchange as part of the …
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Commercial accountable care organization products: Market leaders and trends
In 2006, Elliott Fisher of Dartmouth coined the term “accountable care.” Accountable care arrangements are based on three principles: Accountability for quality: A group of providers is clinically and financially responsible for the entire continuum of care for a group of patients. Depending on the arrangement, providers, hospitals, and health insurers may share responsibility for the patients’ care. Shared savings: …
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Health care spending for chronic conditions in Michigan
Chronic conditions affect millions of Americans and have a major impact on U.S. health care spending each year, accounting for seven out of every ten deaths in the United States annually. It is estimated that more than 75 percent of all health care costs are associated with chronic diseases. Approximately 45 percent of Americans nationwide are affected by at least …
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Community mental health services: Coverage and delivery in Michigan
Since 1965, the number of Community Mental Health centers (CMHs) has increased from 12 covering 16 counties to 46 covering all 83 counties in Michigan. Today, Medicaid is the major source of most funding for the publicly funded mental health system in Michigan, and care at CMHs is an entitled benefit under Medicaid. As such, individuals with Medicaid coverage are …
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Autism spectrum disorder in Michigan
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprises a group of developmental disabilities that cause impairment in social interactions, communication skills, and behaviors that can have long-term health and social functioning costs for individuals with ASD and their families. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that approximately one in 68 children in the United States were diagnosed with …
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The ACA and essential health benefits: Overview of new coverage standards in individual and small group markets
Beginning in January 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) introduced a series of health insurance reforms, particularly for consumers purchasing coverage through the individual market or covered through employment at a small firm. One of the most prominent of these reforms is the requirement that all health plan products in certain market segments must cover an established set of essential …
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