“With states facing a Dec. 26 deadline for recommending an insurance plan that will define the essential health benefits (EHBs) insurers must offer starting in 2014, a new brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation highlights EHB benchmark plan selections from the 26 states plus the District of Columbia that have already beat the submission deadline. The brief also provides an overview of federal guidelines around EHB benchmark plans, which specify how the plans will be supplemented if they do not include all of the required benefit categories. The guidelines also indicate that states not recommending an EHB benchmark plan by the deadline will default to the largest small group plan in the state. In addition, the brief includes a link to a detailed table that names the selected EHB benchmark plan or the default plan for every state and notes any supplemental coverage. Approximately 68 million people are anticipated to access care covered by the health reform law’s EHB requirement once it is fully implemented.”