Health Policy News has devoted significant attention to State and Federal efforts to contain drug costs, including recently issuing a report and legislative tracking tool entitled “ Rising Prescription Drug Costs: A report on state and federal efforts to contain costs”. As we head into the summer we offer readers a few short updates on some of the issues we have been closely following and will continue to track...

In December 2017, the federal administration’s tax bill – the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, phased out the individual mandate requirements, with the penalty for failing to have qualified insurance eliminated starting in 2019. For 2018, the mandate remains, with the penalty set at $695 per adult or 2.5% of household income, whichever is higher.  The individual mandate is cited as one of the tenants of the success of the Affordable Care Act. In order to ensure a healthy risk pool, participation of as many individuals as possible was key.

The State Flexibility to Stabilize the Market Grant Program (“State Flexibility Grant Program”) was developed to support states as they implement several of the market reforms and consumer protections under Title I of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This new funding opportunity builds upon many of the efforts currently underway in states related to the Consumer Protection grant funds, which were awarded in October 2016. PCG assisted many states with projects related to those consumer protections grant funds and our team has used that experience to compile the following insights and suggested activities to help states with their grant applications for this new federal funding opportunity.

On January 4, the administration released the anticipated proposed rule broadening the ERISA definition of “employer” and expanding the options for small employers seeking insurance coverage, as foreshadowed in the President’s executive order on October 12, 2017.