Health Care — 2023's open enrollment changes

Presented by PhRMA — This year is slated to set another record for signups through the ACA marketplace

View Online Health Care Health Care PRESENTED BY  The Big Story  It's open enrollment again. Here's what's different this year Open enrollment for plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace is underway, and there are some new features for this year's sign-up period aimed at maximizing benefits and enrollment.  © AP Last year's enrollment period saw a record number of people sign up — 15.7 million — and this year's is expected to surpass that.    The more than 10 million people who have been disenrolled from Medicaid this year so far were granted a special enrollment period that already began in March and will go on until July of next year.    While this is likely to result in many more people turning to ACA plans, the fact that a large portion of those who have been disenrolled were still eligible may mean a more modest impact. And those who truly did lose eligibility may have lost it due to having other options.    "If they reapply for Medicaid, they might find that they're still eligible for Medicaid," said KFF Vice President Cynthia Cox, director of the program on the ACA.   "Additionally, some people losing Medicaid coverage — especially if they lost eligibility for that Medicaid coverage — it might be because, you know, they got Medicaid early in the pandemic when they got laid off and then they've since regained employment and got employer coverage."    The 2024 enrollment period will also be the first time that HealthCare.gov will employ a new reenrollment policy that will move an enrollee up a tier from Bronze to Silver if they are eligible. While auto-reenrollment has always been ACA policy, customers in previous years were reenrolled into the same plan they were already enrolled in.    "They've just tinkered with the algorithm this year in an effort to try to make sure that as many people as possible are getting all the benefits they qualify for," said Louise Norris, policy analyst for healthinsurance.org, adding that customers shouldn't rely on the reenrollment mechanism.    "No matter what, it's in your best interest to go in there and look at the plans that are available and pick your own instead of relying on an algorithm to pick a renewal plan for you," she advised.  Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads  How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Marijuana use increases risk of heart attacks, new studies suggest Two new studies suggest that regular use of marijuana could be linked to a higher risk of heart failure or heart attack, especially among older people.  The preliminary findings of the studies, which have yet to be published, will be presented next week at the American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2023 in Philadelphia. The first study followed 156,999 people for 45 months, nearly four years. At the start …  Full Story Firearm injury ER visits among kids doubled during pandemic: Study Emergency department visits for firearm injuries among children doubled during the pandemic, according to a study published Monday.   The study, published in the academic journal Pediatrics, also found that the share of children who died in the hospital as the result of a firearm injury doubled during the same period. Emergency room visits for firearm injuries increased from about 18 per 30 days between January 2017 and February …  Full Story CDC adding flu, RSV surveillance at major US airports The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday it will be expanding its respiratory viral surveillance of international travelers. In 2022, the CDC launched its Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance program (TGS), a public-private partnership to serve as an early-warning detection system at U.S. airports for COVID-19 variants. The voluntary program involves taking nasal samples from international travelers …  Full Story On Our Radar  Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: Millions of Americans head to the polls Tuesday. We're watching the fight for control of the Virginia legislature, the Mississippi and Kentucky governor's races, Ohio ballot measures on abortion and marijuana and a Pennsylvania Supreme Court race. The Senate is slated to vote as early as Tuesday on Monica Bertagnolli's nomination to lead the National Institutes of Health.  On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee will mark up legislation on mental health and PBMs. A Senate HELP subcommittee will examine AI in health care. The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday will consider President Biden's supplemental funding request for the Departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security.  A MESSAGE FROM PHRMA    Middlemen should work for you, not against you Your health insurance company and their pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) can decide which medicines you can get at the pharmacy – regardless of what you and your doctor think is best. In Other News  Branch out with a different read from The Hill: More fruit pouches for kids are being recalled because of illnesses that are linked to lead Federal health officials are expanding an investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon fruit puree marketed for children amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked … Full Story Around the Nation  Local and state headlines on health care: Will Ohio voters back abortion rights? Other red and swing states have (The Washington Post)  Medicaid 'unwinding' has dropped thousands from health coverage in Kansas and Missouri (KCUR)  As transgender 'refugees' flock to New Mexico, waitlists grow (KFF Health News)  What We're Reading  Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Children who survive shootings endure huge health obstacles and costs (KFF Health News) HHS secretaries Becerra, Azar face off on lowering drug prices (Stat)  Hospital infections dropped after pandemic-era surge (Axios) What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: 'Strong' El Niño winter coming: Here's where we could see more snow While El Niño's impacts are never a guarantee, the climate pattern tends to influence weather across the U.S. as it reaches peak strength in the winter. Read more 5 memorable moments from Trump's chaotic testimony in NY fraud trial NEW YORK — The highly anticipated testimony of former President Trump in his New York civil fraud trial Monday heaved chaotically between defending … Read more   You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Check out The Hill's Health Care page for the latest coverage. Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 Copyright © 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.

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