HHS Regional Listening Sessions Around Essential Health Benefits

The Affordable Care Act ensures Americans have access to quality, affordable health insurance.  To achieve this goal, the law ensures plans offered in the new Affordable Insurance Exchanges offer a package of essential health benefits, which are to be defined by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The statute directs the Secretary to consider the scope of benefits provided under a typical employer plan in defining essential health benefits.  To inform the Department, HHS received a survey of employer-sponsored coverage conducted by the Department of Labor as well as recommendations from the Institute of Medicine on the criteria and methods for defining and updating essential health benefits.HHS is committed to receiving broad public input on essential health benefits from all stakeholders, including States, patients, providers, employers, legislators, insurers, and all other interested Americans.

To that end, we are pleased to invite you to comment sessions for regional, state, and local stakeholders on essential health benefits.  Senior HHS officials will be in attendance to listen to stakeholder feedback. If you plan to attend the session, we ask that you consider these questions in preparing your comments:

• In keeping with the title of the Institute of Medicine report “Essential Health Benefits—Balancing Coverage and Cost”, how can the Department best meet the dual goals of balancing the comprehensiveness of coverage included in essential health benefits and affordability? 
• How might the Department ensure that essential health benefits reflect an appropriate balance among the categories so that they are not unduly weighted toward any category?
• What policy principles and criteria should be taken into account to prevent discrimination against individuals because of their age, disability status, or expected length of life as the Affordable Care Act requires?
• What models should HHS consider in developing essential health benefits?
• What criteria should be used to update essential health benefits over time and what should the process be for their modification?

To register for the event, please send an email with your name, organization, title, email address and phone number to the designated RSVP by the RSVP Due Date listed above.   (NOTE: In some locations, RSVPs are needed for building security and will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis)

If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact Brian Chiglinsky, HHS Office of External Affairs at 202.619.1066 or brian.chiglinsky@hhs.gov<mailto:brian.chiglinsky@hhs.gov>.

The table below provides the details for each of the finalized Regional Listening Sessions:

Chicago
4-Nov
9:30 AM- noon
233 N Michigan Ave, 13th floor (Room 1329)
Chicago, IL 60601
Bryan.Schulz@hhs.gov<mailto:Bryan.Schulz@hhs.gov>

Boston
8-Nov
1-3 PM
John F. Kennedy Federal Building
15 New Sudbury St., Conference Room 2075 (20th floor)
Boston, MA 02203
R1-ORD@hhs.gov<mailto:R1-ORD@hhs.gov>

Philadelphia
8-Nov
10 AM -noon
Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West, Conference Rm 419, Philadelphia, PA 19106
aryanna.abouzari@hhs.gov<mailto:aryanna.abouzari@hhs.gov>

Dallas
9-Nov
10 AM - noon
Center for Community Cooperation, 2900 Live Oak Street, Dallas, TX 75204
shelby.gooden@hhs.gov<mailto:shelby.gooden@hhs.gov>

New York
14-Nov
10 AM - noon
26 Federal Plaza, Suite 3835
New York, New York 10278
Joynetta.Bell@hhs.gov<mailto:Joynetta.Bell@hhs.gov>

Kansas City
15-Nov
10 AM - noon
Bolling Federal Office Building
8th Floor SSA Conference Room
601 E. 12th Street
Kansas City, MO  64106
Cindy.Cento@hhs.gov<mailto:Cindy.Cento@hhs.gov>

Atlanta
16-Nov
10 AM - noon
61 Forsyth St. SW, Suite 5B95, Atlanta, GA 30303-8909
ORDAtlanta@hhs.gov<mailto:ORDAtlanta@hhs.gov>

Seattle
17-Nov
2 - 5 PM
Jackson Federal Building, 915 2nd Ave, South Auditorium, Seattle, WA

Denver
18-Nov
9 AM - noon
999 18th St. South Terrace, Suite 400 Denver, CO 80202
Ezra.Watland@hhs.gov<mailto:Ezra.Watland@hhs.gov>

San Francisco
21-Nov
3 - 5 PM
90 Seventh Street, Suite 5-100
San Francisco, CA  94103
region9ord@hhs.gov<mailto:region9ord@hhs.gov>