Individual Health Policies Fall Short, a Study Finds (New York Times)

A study published last week in Health Affairs found more than half of all medical insurance policies sold to individuals do not meet the standards of coverage set by PPACA. Workers now covered through an employer are in plans that meet federal standards. Those plans are likely to continue to be more generous than individual plans available through the state insurance exchanges required by the law, according to Jon R. Gabel, the study's lead author and a health researcher at NORC at the University of Chicago. However, the law could have an equalizing effect by reducing the difference in coverage levels for those who buy insurance directly in the individual markets and those who get it through an employer, said Sara R. Collins, a vice president of the Commonwealth Fund, a research foundation that financed the study.

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