HHS announces new measures to expand access to healthcare coverage in 2023

Editor's Note

In an April 28 news release, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced new measures that will allow American consumers to more easily find affordable healthcare coverage on HealthCare.gov during the next Open Enrollment Period, which will begin on November 1, 2022.

The new policy is part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “ongoing effort to strengthen and build on the Affordable Care Act,” the CMS news release explained, with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra adding that “the Affordable Care Act has successfully expanded coverage and provided hundreds of health plans for consumers to choose from.”

The new policy will include new standardized “plan options, like maximum out-of-pocket limitations, deductibles, and cost-sharing features,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. Other changes include:

• implementing new network adequacy requirements
• increasing value of coverage
• increasing access and removing barriers to coverage
• expanding access to essential community providers
• further streamlining HealthCare.gov operations.

According to JAMA Network April 26, an HHS report found that the rate of Black individuals in the US who are uninsured has declined by 40% since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. “Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act nearly 12 years ago, the law has significantly expanded access to life-saving health coverage, including for Black communities across the country,” Brooks-LaSure said in a statement.