Many of the contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination are making expanded health care access part of their campaign. With proposals ranging from eliminating private health insurance to expanding existing public programs, it’s clear that some form of single-payer health care will be a big part of the Democrats’ 2020 policy platform. Single-payer health care...
Read more
Donald Trump and Obamacare
Before his surprise election, President-Elect Donald Trump said he would repeal the Affordable Care Act “on Day One.” However, the health care law championed by Barack Obama could prove more difficult to dismantle than Trump had imagined. Since that time, Trump has backed off a bit from a complete repeal. By the time this issue...
Read more
Implementation of Cadillac Tax Delayed for Two Years
Implementation of the “Cadillac Tax,” a tax on expensive employer health plans, has been pushed back from 2018 until 2020. Many, though, would like to see the tax go away completely. More formally known as Section 9001 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the 40 percent excise tax will be levied against “excess” benefits and...
Read more
Why Prescription Drugs Cost so Much and What You Can Do About It
Prescription drug costs rose by 12.6 percent in 2014 and by 10 percent in 2015 — well beyond the U.S. inflation rate. And in some extreme cases, specialty drug costs increased more than 5,000 percent. What can employers do to control these soaring costs? In 2015, Martin Shkreli, chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was...
Read more
7 Steps To Filing Your Insurance Claim
We hope it never happens, but when you suffer a loss, you’ll have to file a claim to receive payment from your insurer. Here’s how the process works, and how to handle it to your best advantage. Notify Authorities Your first priority is always to prevent further injury and to protect life and health. If...
Read more
Cadillac Tax Reviewed
As we posted this article, the IRS had just ended a comment period on the so-called Cadillac tax. The tax, part of the Affordable Care Act, is scheduled to go into effect in 2018 unless the law changes. Some Republicans have promised to do just that. Created by Section 9001 of the Affordable Care Act,...
Read more
ACA Spurring Interest in Self-Insurance
Self-insurance can create risk exposures that most smaller employers don’t want to take. Still, 15 percent of smaller employers (1-199 employees) find the benefits outweigh the risks. What Is Self-Insurance? Employers providing health benefits to employees have three basic choices: buying a fully insured plan, self-insuring or offering employees a choice of fully insured and...
Read more
Republicans Introduce Their Own Health Care Reform Law
Republicans in the Senate and House have proposed several bills to repeal President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). In January, several legislators introduced the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment Act (Patient CARE Act), which would create a new health insurance reform plan, in addition to repealing the ACA. The Act’s sponsors,...
Read more
Affordable Care Act Update
The Supreme Court has been hearing arguments in King v. Burwell, which could decide the fate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Meanwhile, other changes have affected administration of the ACA. No More Skinny Plans: In past articles, we’ve discussed so-called skinny plans, or medical plans that large employers have argued would fulfill their requirement...
Read more
Update on Wraparound Healthcare Plans
In December 2014, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury issued proposed rules that would allow employers to offer limited “wraparound” plans. This would give employees access to high-level benefits, even if they would lack generous employer-based benefits otherwise. The rule proposes two pilot programs for wraparound coverage. One pilot would...
Read more