The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Manatt Health Solutions today released the only nationally comprehensive, public data set that includes information on all plans offered in the health insurance marketplaces in 2015 and 2016.
Known as “HIX Compare” the data allow people to examine everything from who buys marketplace plans, to what the plans cover, and how much they cost.
“To improve how the exchange marketplaces function, we need to share data widely that will enable market analysis and the creation of better decision support tools for consumers,” said Kathy Hempstead, who directs insurance coverage programs at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “HIX Compare is the only publicly available 50-state dataset with detailed plan design information on all marketplace plans.”
The data include information on premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums, as well as cost-sharing requirements for primary care and specialist visits, prescription drugs, emergency room services, and inpatient and outpatient visits for all plans across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Using the dataset, for example, Manatt found that the average premium for 27-year-old individuals increased more than 8 percent in 2016 over 2015, while average co-payments for primary care visits remained unchanged at $30.
“The fact that anyone can use HIX Compare to analyze marketplace plans and their costs promotes greater transparency in the marketplace,” said Valerie Barton, director at Manatt Health Solutions. “HIX Compare provides clean, user-friendly data that can be used for research, efforts to improve the marketplace and marketplace plans, and to power the development of consumer decision-making tools.”
RWJF and Manatt also re-issued the 2015 HIX Compare dataset and expanded it to include Gold and Bronze plans, enabling comparisons between 2015 and 2016. They will re-issue the 2014 dataset in the coming months. HIX Compare is produced by researchers at Manatt with funding from RWJF. For more information, visit www.RWJF.org.
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About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
For more than 40 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are striving to build a national Culture of Health that will enable all to live longer, healthier lives now and for generations to come. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.
About Manatt Health Solutions
Manatt Health Solutions is a division of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. Its interdisciplinary team provides strategic business advice, policy analysis, project implementation, and coalition-building and advocacy services to clients in the areas of health information technology, health insurance exchanges and other healthcare access and coverage initiatives, including development of new healthcare delivery system models. MHS professionals also provide counsel on financing, reimbursement, restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions to clients in the healthcare sector. For more information, visit www.manatthealthsolutions.com.
