Editor's note: This is the debut of Reform Watch, a new monthly feature of the Health Relay blog. Reform Watch is intended to inform readers on aspects of the Affordable Care Act.
Emily King is a research associate with the Colorado Health Institute.This posting originally appeared in CHI's Analysis with Attitude blog.
As a twenty-something, I get my health policy news from a variety of sources: Twitter, daily email digests, Kaiser Health News, blogs — even a hard copy of The New York Times on Sunday morning. But after my Twitter feed lit up with praise for a recent Jon Stewart interview, "The Daily Show" now occupies a spot on that list.
Last week, Stewart interviewed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on developments related to the Affordable Care Act. Check out part one of the interview here and part two here.
A few things I learned from the informative 16-minute interview:
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The theory behind "essential health benefits" is that it partially addresses the issue of underinsurance — "Underinsured" describes people who have insurance but still spend a large proportion of their income on care that their plan doesn't cover. About 675,000 Coloradans are underinsured, according to the 2011 Colorado Health Access Survey. During the interview, Sebelius mentioned that 60 percent of the plans sold to individuals don't cover maternity care, and one of three plans don't cover substance-abuse services. By ensuring that health plans cover basic services such as maternity care, prescription drugs and hospitalizations, fewer Coloradans will be stuck with overwhelming medical bills if they get sick.
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Sebelius said that "the way the law was written in the first place is that states get to take the lead...around a set of rules"— In essence, while the feds laid the foundation for the ACA "house," the states are responsible for building the rest of it and deciding what "furniture" to add. The Colorado Health Benefit Exchange is one example of this, and the definition of essential health benefits are another. The recent HHS bulletin allows states to choose from a number of different plans as a "benchmark." Colorado can choose one of the most popular small employer plans, for example, when it decides what exactly counts as an essential health benefit. What counts — and who decide — are important discussions that will play out in Colorado in 2012.
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Upon reading the words "actuarial value," your eyes will probably roll just like Jon Stewart's — However, Sebelius' definition was the simplest I've heard: it's basically a tool to help you choose how much deductible you're willing to pay. Under the ACA, consumers will choose between health insurance plans that pay a smaller chunk of costs (labeled as "bronze" or "silver" plans) and plans that pay a larger proportion ("gold" or "platinum" plans).
The health reform law is complicated, and poll after poll suggests that most Americans don't entirely understand how it will affect them. If the information is reliable and accurate, it doesn't matter where it comes from — even if it's Jon Stewart embracing his inner policy wonk.
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