Feds To Allow States To Decide on Essential Health Benefits

Rather than specifically defining the details of what will be included in an “essential health benefits” package, the Obama administration has opted to let states decide how to benchmark their plans. On December 16, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that states would be granted the flexibility to define their essential benefits packages based on which benchmark plan best meets the needs of their state. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) requires that health plans offer a minimum set of “essential health benefits” for policies sold through state health . . .