Hospital, insurer and employer groups agree on coverage principles

The Affordable Care Coalition, made up of powerful lobbies representing providers, payers and employers, in February, issued its principles for making health coverage accessible and affordable:

Tax credits and cost-sharing reductions: Increase “the generosity of” and expand eligibility for Affordable Care Act premium tax credits and costsharing reductions.

Insurance affordability fund:

Establish a sustained federal funding mechanism to support any unexpected high costs for caring for people with serious health conditions or to lower premiums or cost-sharing for exchange enrollees.

Automatic and facilitated enrollment: Automatically enroll and renew individuals eligible for Medicaid and premium-free marketplace plans and facilitate enrollment for any remaining uninsured.

Federal funding for outreach and enrollment: Urge Congress to increase funding for navigator, outreach and enrollment programs and encourage states to develop more efficient and less costly outreach and enrollment platforms.

Incentives to close the low-income coverage gap: Ensure everyone with an income up to 138% of the federal poverty level has comprehensive coverage. Congress should again fund a three-year, 100% federal match for states that haven’t expanded Medicaid.

Preventing increases in the uninsured: Policymakers should help prevent Americans who have lost, or are at risk of losing, employer-provided health coverage from becoming uninsured. That could be done by temporarily covering the cost of continuing health coverage through the crisis, such as through COBRA subsidies or direct loans to employers. For people who have lost coverage, it could be done through automatic enrollment into Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Plan and ACA marketplace coverage.