Policy & Regulation

Under the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018 (Evidence Act), the Capacity Assessment requires agencies to assess the coverage, quality, methods, effectiveness, and independence of their statistics, evaluation, research, and analysis efforts.

The HHS Evidence Building Plan, required by the Evidence Act, is a systematic plan for identifying and addressing policy questions relevant to the programs, policies, and regulations of the agency.

In response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provided a 2021 Special Enrollment Period (SEP) from February 15 to August 15, 2021. Understanding the sociodemographic composition of Marketplace enrollees allows for better targeted outreach and enrollment assistance. However, many enrollees do not report their race and ethnicity.

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) includes two key provisions that expand and increase premium tax credit benefits for Marketplace consumers, improving affordability of coverage for millions. Under current law, these provisions will sunset in 2023 if they are not extended, resulting in higher out-of-pocket costs for enrollees and an increase in the number of uninsured.

This brief provides an overview of the important role the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has had on increasing access to comprehensive coverage among women. Over 10 million adult women (19-64) gained coverage between 2010 and 2019, as did over 7 million women of reproductive age (15-44). Despite the ACA’s coverage gains, approximately 7.9 million women of reproductive age remain uninsured.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010. Since then, the law has led to an historic expansion of health insurance coverage across all states and all demographic groups within the U.S. This Briefing Book features key findings from two dozen reports published in 2021-2022.

Medicare served nearly 63 million beneficiaries in 2019. 62 percent were enrolled in Part A or Part B, and the rest (37 percent) were in Medicare Advantage (Part C). 74 percent were enrolled in Part D drug coverage, 13 percent had private drug coverage, and nearly 9 percent had no drug coverage. Demographic characteristics and health status varied across these groups.

This issue brief analyzes changes in health insurance coverage and examines trends in access to care among Black Americans using data from 2011-2020. This Issue Brief is part of a series of ASPE reports examining the change in coverage rates and access to care after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) among different racial and ethnic populations.

Telehealth services expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey (HPS) in 2021, this Issue Brief analyzes national trends in telehealth utilization across all payers and examines how use of video-enabled vs. audio-only telehealth services differ across patient populations.

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) provides annual and quarterly data on health insurance coverage by insurance type, age, and income.