Clarity on essential benefits, federal exchanges needed

Facing a variety of financial pressures, health plans need to take a measured approach to identify supplemental benefit strategies that facilitate their success.

In this episode of the "Meet the Board" podcast series, Briana Contreras, Managed Healthcare Executive editor, speaks with Ateev Mehrotra, a member of the MHE editorial advisory board and a professor of healthcare policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School. Mehtrotra is also a hospitalist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. In the discussion, Contreras gets to know Mehrotra more on a personal level and picks his brain on some of his research interests including telehealth, alternative payment models and price transparency.

The Democrats have expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have proposed cuts in federal funding and work requirements.

Many provisions of the Affordable Care Act are popular and the healthcare reform law has brought the proportion of Americans without healthcare insurance down to an all-time low. As president, Donald Trump backed "repeal and replace" efforts.

Pharmacy benefit managers aren't getting mentioned on the campaign trail, but there are some signs Congress could enact reform legislation after the Nov. 5 election.

Reproductive rights and abortion: The hottest healthcare issue