What We're Reading: HHS Targets Young Adults for ACA Coverage

The Obama administration is going to increase efforts for getting younger individuals enrolled in the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges this open enrollment period. According to The Wall Street Journal, the administration will specifically target people under the age of 35, who paid a penalty for not having coverage. The efforts will include emails and notifications about steeper penalties and will include near-to-real time emails to reach these consumers if they open an account but don’t start an application. Adding these younger individuals to the exchanges could help hold down premium rates because they are healthier.

In California, Boeing Co. is bypassing the conventional insurance model in an attempt to curb rising health costs. The company will contract directly with a major health system for its employee benefits and marks an expansion of Boeing’s direct-contracting approach, reported California Healthline. The direct-contracting approach has already been implemented by Boeing in Seattle, Washington; St. Louis, Missouri; and Charleston, South Carolina. MemorialCare won the 5-year contract with Boeing and coverage under the new plan will begin January 1.

There has been growing interest in how value-based insurance design (VBID) can be used to reduce the use of low-value care and increase the use of high-value care. The VBID Center at the University of Michigan highlighted a month of VBID news, including a hearing on Capitol Hill, a white paper on how VBID and other payment and benefit designs can improve healthcare delivery, and the launch of a new research initiative to identify low-value care.