A number of states are considering pursuing waivers from selected requirements of the Affordable Care Act in the name of health care innovation.

Section 1332 of the 2010 health care reform law permits states, with federal approval, to implement different approaches to providing their residents with quality, affordable health care that fall outside the restrictions of Affordable Care Act requirements so long as those different approaches provide comparable coverage and do not increase federal costs.

These state innovation waivers, also commonly referred to as section 1332 waivers, are available to take effect as of January 1, 2017 and a number of states – Alaska, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Oklahoma – either have applied for waivers or appear to be on a path for doing so.

Learn more about efforts in those states in this Health Affairs Blog article and learn more about section 1332 waivers from this description on the web site of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.