On January 25, 2018, AHIP responded to the Request for Information (RFI) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) on Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States, published on December 26, 2017.
In our response, we stated our support for the administration’s goal to increase choice and competition across healthcare markets. Americans deserve good health coverage choices. Good coverage options help people manage their health to reduce the chances that they will have a major health problem later. Good options also protect Americans from having an injury or illness devastate them or their families financially.
Our recommendations focus on promoting the kinds of quality coverage options Americans want, options that:
- Improve affordability by addressing the rising costs of care and prescription drugs;
- Improve patient satisfaction and value by removing regulatory barriers that hinder the ability of health insurance providers to improve and expand the ways in which care is delivered;
- Promote meaningful consumer choices that provide health and financial security rather than approaches that splinter health insurance markets and/or expose American families to substantial risks when someone gets sick or has a serious medical condition; and
- Provide consistent, stable, timely regulatory policies that create a level playing field, both across and within market segments, and implement policies with adequate lead time for insurance providers and other stakeholders to incorporate them into business and operational plans.
Read the full letter here.