States moving ahead on defining 'essential' health benefits

With a Monday target for submitting their lists of "essential health benefits" to the federal government, 15 states and the District of Columbia have made their choices and 17 more states are expected to do so in the next few weeks, according to consulting firm Avalere Health. The health law lists 10 broad categories of essential benefits. States have latitude within those categories, and so far nearly all have selected as a benchmark for minimum coverage one of the three most popular small group health plans available to residents now.