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PolicyLab Co-Director Kathleen Noonan's Article Featured in Health Affairs December Issue

An article published in the Health Affairs December issue is the first ever comprehensive analysis to investigate the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Essential Health Benefit (EHB) as it relates to children. The study found that the EHB has resulted in a state-by-state patchwork of coverage for children and adolescents that has significant exclusions, particularly for children with developmental disabilities and other special health care needs.

Previous studies have compared the EHB standard more broadly to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but this analysis presents the detailed evidence regarding the types of exclusionary practices that limit the effectiveness of coverage for children insured through health plans sold in the individual and small group markets. The analysis was conducted by researchers from PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC; Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center; and the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University (GW).