Policy Innovations in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces

By Rachel Schwab, Rachel Swindle, Jalisa Clark, and Justin Giovannelli

Over 20 million people have selected a 2024 health plan on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Marketplaces. This record enrollment—alongside a more stable legal and political environment, relative to the ACA’s early years—may provide opportunities for Marketplaces to pursue innovative and consumer-friendly policies that bolster this crucial source of affordable, comprehensive health insurance.

In a recent issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts reviewed policy decisions by state-run Marketplaces and the federally facilitated Marketplace, including efforts to reduce enrollment barriers, simplify plan choice, promote market competition, and increase health equity. The authors also created an interactive map dashboard highlighting even more key Marketplace policies for the 2023 plan year.

You can read the issue brief here, and access the complete set of interactive maps here.