Webinar: Prohibiting Discrimination under the Affordable Care Act – State and Federal Roles and Responsibilities
Date: April 18, 2016
What are the ACA’s non-discrimination requirements and how have they affected health insurance markets? How have states responded to implement provisions and ensure guaranteed protections? What impacts have requirements had on the design of insurance offering? Are they improving access to services? What challenges remain to monitor and enforce these requirements?
While in effect since passage of the ACA, lingering questions remain about the ramifications of non-discrimination provisions of the law. “Essential health benefits” (EHB) requirements prohibit issuers from establishing or implementing benefit designs that discriminate against enrollees based on many factors including disability, medical dependency, and other health conditions, age, race, national origin, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Further requirements, to be clarified soon via proposed regulation, establish prohibitions on discrimination under and program established under the ACA.
This webinar from NASHP examines the state role in prohibiting discrimination under the ACA. Our panel of experts—representing insurance marketplaces, state departments of insurance, carrier and consumer advocates, and researchers—discussed impacts of nondiscrimination requirements on insurance markets as well as questions that remain regarding enforcement and future concerns for meeting non-discrimination concerns.
For individuals living with complex, often chronic conditions, and their families, palliative care can provide relief from symptoms, improve satisfaction and outcomes, and help address critical mental and spiritual needs during difficult times. Now more than ever, there is growing recognition of the importance of palliative care services for individuals with serious illness, such as advance care planning, pain and symptom management, care coordination, and team-based, multi-disciplinary support. These services can help patients and families cope with the symptoms and stressors of disease, better anticipate and avoid crises, and reduce unnecessary and/or unwanted care. While this model is grounded in evidence that demonstrates improved quality of life, better outcomes, and reduced cost for patients, only a fraction of individuals who could benefit from palliative care receive it. 
