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Federal Update Beginning this week, all health insurers and group health plans are required to provide applicants and interested parties with an easy-to-understand summary of a plan's benefits and coverage. The ... called "coverage examples," that allow consumers to see what the plan would generally cover in two common medical situations - maternity care and diabetes.  ACS CAN is advocating for the inclusion of a cancer example in future versions of the form. The SBC is modeled after the ...

... Exchange Comments                  ACS CAN filed comments on October 24 with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the proposed rule on the development of marketplaces for insurance plans sold to individuals and small businesses under the Affordable Care Act - known as health insurance exchanges. The comments encourage the administration to:   Clarify and strengthen the rule to benefit patients and consumers, ...

...             Final Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Rule Released           The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) late last week released the final rule for the Affordable Care Act's key health care delivery reform -- Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).  ACOs are groups of providers and hospitals that agree to come together to ... that the proposed rule released in March made it too difficult for physicians and hospitals to participate in the program, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) simplified the regulation by eliminating penalties and reducing administrative requirements. The rule could spur ...

Federal Update   Senate Committee Finalizes Health Funding Bill   The Senate Appropriations Committee completed its work last night on its 2012 fiscal year (FY 2012) Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) appropriations bill. Four Affordable Care Act (ACA) related amendments were offered. The first, and most significant, would have suspended implementation of the law, prohibited the use ...