Survey finds state policies have critical impact on ACA applications, enrollment
For immediate release: June 8, 2015 Boston, MA – A new survey by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that the variable approaches states have taken to implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have had…
Obama plan could boost health care for immigrants
Millions of undocumented immigrants could get a reprieve from the threat of deportation and a chance for legal employment in the U.S. under a recent proposed executive action from President Obama. Although the plan is currently under court…
Health insurers may be using drug coverage to discriminate
For immediate release: January 28, 2015 In some U.S. health plans, HIV drugs cost nearly $3,000 more per year than in other plans. If left unchecked, this practice could partially undermine a central feature of the Affordable Care Act.…
Health insurance enrollment websites experience smoother relaunch
The launch of this year’s open enrollment period for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act went much more smoothly than last year, according Benjamin Sommers, assistant professor of health policy and economics at Harvard School of Public…
Support for Medicaid expansion strong among low-income adults
For immediate release: Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Boston, MA — Low-income adults overwhelmingly support Medicaid expansion and think the government-sponsored program offers health care coverage that is comparable to or even better in quality than private health insurance…
Young adults report better health following Affordable Care Act
According to a new survey, young adults are reporting better health since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which allowed them to be covered on their parents’ plans through age 26. The study, co-authored by…
Obamacare report card: Incomplete, but promising
Much of the media coverage and dialogue surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been, unsurprisingly, polarizing. Opponents have focused on the negative (the bumpy rollout of the federal health insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov), supporters on the positive (the…
Significant decline in deaths after Massachusetts’ health reform
Findings offer insights into population-level health effects that could occur under Affordable Care Act For immediate release: Monday, May 5, 2014 Boston, MA — In the first four years after Massachusetts instituted comprehensive health reform in 2006, mortality…
Impact of ACA on health plan cancellations
Despite the public outcry when as many as 4.7 million people were estimated to have received cancellation notices about their private, non-employment-based health insurance plans last fall when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was launched, this market was…
ACA this week - Do enrollment targets matter?
March, 2014 – Although the number of people signing up for health care through the federal and state marketplaces is currently behind the administration’s target, Benjamin Sommers, professor of health policy and economics at Harvard T.H. Chan School…