Health Policy Center
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Health Policy Update







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Understanding the extraordinary increase in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums in 2026


Marketplace benchmark premiums have increased by 21.7 percent in 2026. This increase is much higher than previous years and projected increases in the employer market.


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Black-white racial differences in asthma medication receipt among Medicaid-enrolled children
Analyzing Medicaid claims data from 11 states, Urban researchers found that, compared with white enrollees, Black Medicaid-enrolled children with asthma were considerably less likely to receive recommended medications. But this difference didn’t explain racial disparities in asthma hospitalizations.

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Improving health coverage for working people with disabilities
If all states eliminated the income and asset thresholds preventing working people with disabilities from buying into Medicaid, an estimated 218,000 would enroll, allowing many to work and earn more.

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Trends in initial plan choices and switching in a period of rapid Medicare Advantage (MA) growth
Increases in the fraction of new enrollees choosing MA plans are consistent with its growth, but there’s also been a rising share of enrollees dropping traditional Medicare (TM) in favor of an MA plan over the past decade.

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Utilization changes among switchers between TM and MA
TM enrollees in 2018 who switched to MA in 2019 saw reductions in low-value care. MA enrollees who switched to TM saw no major change in low-value care but experienced improvements in quality, contrary to expectations.

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Upcoding in MA among dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees
Medicare Advantage upcoding among dual Medicare-Medicaid enrollees resulted in $12.2 billion in overpayments to plans in 2020. This suggests upcoding is significantly greater for duals compared with non-duals, emphasizing the need to curb plan overpayments.

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Public comment on “Public Charge Ground of Inadmissibility”
Researchers raise concerns that the proposed “public charge” rule would reduce participation in essential health, nutrition, and other programs among immigrant families, including those with citizen children, resulting in fewer children and adults getting critical needs met.

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