{"data":{"id":"us/45-cfr-156.20","jurisdiction":"us","citation":"45 CFR 156.20","heading":"Definitions.","body":"The following definitions apply to this part, unless the context indicates otherwise:\nActuarial value (AV) means the percentage paid by a health plan of the percentage of the total allowed costs of benefits.\nApplicant has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nBase-benchmark plan means the plan that is selected by a State from the options described in § 156.100(a) of this subchapter, or a default benchmark plan, as described in § 156.100(c) of this subchapter, prior to any adjustments made pursuant to the benchmark standards described in § 156.110 of this subchapter.\nBenefit design standards means coverage that provides for all of the following:\n(1) The essential health benefits as described in section 1302(b) of the Affordable Care Act;\n(2) Cost-sharing limits as described in section 1302(c) of the Affordable Care Act; and\n(3) A bronze, silver, gold, or platinum level of coverage as described in section 1302(d) of the Affordable Care Act, or is a catastrophic plan as described in section 1302(e) of the Affordable Care Act.\nBenefit year has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subtitle.\nCost-sharing has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subtitle.\nCost-sharing reductions has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subtitle.\nDelegated entity means any party, including an agent or broker, that enters into an agreement with a QHP issuer to provide administrative services or health care services to qualified individuals, qualified employers, or qualified employees and their dependents.\nDownstream entity means any party, including an agent or broker, that enters into an agreement with a delegated entity or with another downstream entity for purposes of providing administrative or health care services related to the agreement between the delegated entity and the QHP issuer. The term “downstream entity” is intended to reach the entity that directly provides administrative services or health care services to qualified individuals, qualified employers, or qualified employees and their dependents.\nEHB-benchmark plan means the standardized set of essential health benefits that must be met by a QHP, as defined in § 155.20 of this section, or other issuer as required by § 147.150 of this subchapter.\nEnrollee satisfaction survey vendor means an organization that has relevant survey administration experience (for example, CAHPS® surveys), organizational survey capacity, and quality control procedures for survey administration.\nEssential health benefits package or EHB package means the scope of covered benefits and associated limits of a health plan offered by an issuer that provides at least the ten statutory categories of benefits, as described in § 156.110(a) of this subchapter; provides the benefits in the manner described in § 156.115 of this subchapter; limits cost sharing for such coverage as described in § 156.130; and subject to offering catastrophic plans as described in section 1302(e) of the Affordable Care Act, provides distinct levels of coverage as described in § 156.140 of this subchapter.\nFederally-facilitated SHOP has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nGroup health plan has the meaning given to the term in § 144.103 of this subtitle.\nHealth insurance coverage has the meaning given to the term in § 144.103 of this subtitle.\nHealth insurance issuer or issuer has the meaning given to the term in § 144.103 of this subtitle.\nIssuer group means all entities treated under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as a member of the same controlled group of corporations as (or under common control with) a health insurance issuer, or issuers affiliated by the common use of a nationally licensed service mark.\nLevel of coverage means one of four standardized actuarial values as defined by section 1302(d)(1) of the Affordable Care Act of plan coverage.\nPercentage of the total allowed costs of benefits means the anticipated covered medical spending for EHB coverage (as defined in § 156.110(a) of this subchapter) paid by a health plan for a standard population, computed in accordance with the plan's cost-sharing, divided by the total anticipated allowed charges for EHB coverage provided to a standard population, and expressed as a percentage.\nPlan has the meaning given the term in § 144.103 of this subchapter.\nPlan year has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nQualified employer has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nQualified health plan has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nQualified health plan issuer has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nQualified individual has the meaning given to the term in § 155.20 of this subchapter.\nRegistered user of the enrollee satisfaction survey data warehouse means enrollee satisfaction survey vendors, QHP issuers, and Exchanges authorized to access CMS's secure data warehouse to submit survey data and to preview survey results prior to public reporting.","path":["Title 45—Public Welfare","SUBTITLE A—Department of Health and Human Services","SUBCHAPTER B—REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH CARE ACCESS","PART 156—HEALTH INSURANCE ISSUER STANDARDS UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, INCLUDING STANDARDS RELATED TO EXCHANGES","Subpart A—General Provisions"],"source_url":"https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-08-25/title-45.xml","current_through":"2026-08-25","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-27T02:26:21Z","sha256":"86d509088fc51eb7a35ff9643939c2f1aafb574f9cb5f7b387911a8fbdbddf89","source_id":"us-cfr","stale":true,"prev":"us/45-cfr-156.10","next":"us/45-cfr-156.50"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}