Event Recap: The Affordable Care Act: Celebrating the Past, Securing the Future
Ensuring access to and affordability of healthcare is at the heart of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's (CareFirst) mission and drives all that we do.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided critical consumer protections for individuals and small employers and significantly expanded the individual market. As we look towards the ACA's 10th Open Enrollment Period, our region and country's individual market has stabilized. However, costs are still too high for those who do not have access to Federal and state financial assistance programs, and long-term funding sources for those programs are uncertain.
In a recent virtual event hosted by CareFirst, a panel of industry experts addressed the expansion of the individual market over the past decade; reviewed successful Federal and state programs to bolster the individual market; and discussed policy interventions that would result in lasting affordability for the individual and small group markets.
David Schwartz, Executive Vice President, Public Policy and Government Affairs, CareFirst, moderated the event and led the panel discussion that included:
- Mila Kofman, Executive Director, DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority
- Michele Eberle, Executive Director, Maryland Health Benefit Exchange
- Eva DuGoff, Ph.D., MPP, Senior Health Advisor, United States Senate Committee on Finance
- Corey Ensslin, Senior Health Policy Advisor, United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Specific topics covered during the virtual event included the following:
- Significant ways that the ACA has changed the landscape of the insurance industry
- Importance of reinsurance programs and other state actions to improve affordability in the ACA markets
- Transition to value-based care, which holds providers and payers accountable for health outcomes and incentivizes efficient, patient-centric care
- Impact of prescription drug prices on healthcare affordability
- And more