Health Reform
Aces High: Administration Plays High Stakes Poker with Health Law Court Fight
There is word today that the Obama Administration will not ask a federal appeals court to reconsider its decision last month, striking down the health reform law’s “individual mandate.” The Administration’s decision opens the door to accelerated Supreme Court review...
Great Expectations: An Analysis of Health Insurance Exchanges Under Health Reform
Health Insurance Exchanges will be soon be ubiquitous. We will quit speculating about them, and some Americans will begin using them. Did you realize that though the Department of Health and Human Services has responsibility for forming a basic framework – states that...
Adverse Selection and Personal Responsibility: The 800-Pound Gorillas in the Individual Mandate Room
A federal trial judge in Pennsylvania ruled Tuesday that the health reform law’s “individual mandate” is unconstitutional, becoming the third federal trial judge to strike the mandate down. At least four federal trial judges have upheld the mandate on constitutional...
Legislation to Repeal Limits on HSAs and Health FSAs Introduced in the Senate and the House
Legislation to Repeal Limits on HSAs and Health FSAs Introduced in the Senate and the House Earlier this year, legislation was re-introduced in the Senate (S. 312) and the House (H.R. 605) to repeal two provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
Private Insurance Exchanges – Confusion Galore
[written by Mark Holloway, JD] If you’re familiar with the health reform law, you have heard of the health insurance exchanges. These are vehicles to be established in each state that will allow individuals and small businesses to shop for health insurance coverage...
Federal Appeals Court Dismisses Virginia’s Challenge to the Individual Mandate
A third federal appeals court has now weighed in on the federal health reform law's "individual mandate," dismissing a challenge to the mandate not on constitutional grounds, but on procedural grounds. Last month we wrote in a client Alert about a federal appeals...
Would a Single Federal Exchange be Preferable?
So there was word late Tuesday that the Administration is searching for a work-around to the problem of state reluctance to establish insurance exchanges. More on Tuesday’s news in a moment. But the news set us to wondering, “Why does the healthcare reform law require...
Summary of Benefit Coverage Rules Released: The Stakes are High for Noncompliance
Coming soon to a group health plan near you: a summary of benefit coverage – or SBC. Federal agencies have issued proposed rules, including sample SBC documents and instructions, and a new SBC glossary that will need to be included with your four-page SBC. Mark...
It’s Like a Nutrition Label, For Health Insurance
Everyone wants to make smart choices. But does the proposed standardized healthcare form (label) unveiled by federal regulators on August 17, 2011 help Americans understand the healthcare coverage they have, or how much a procedure will cost? Yes…and no. The form...
52 Notices and Reports: Healthcare Reporting Runs Rampant…But Does it Have to be This Way?
Is there room for improvement in the realm of group health insurance? Sure, says senior vice president, director, compliance services for Lockton Companies, Ed Fensholt. However, don’t throw the baby out with the proverbial bath water. In trying to improve group...
Healthcare Reform: What’s Best for Every Employee? Employer?
Right now, more than 160 million Americans get health insurance coverage from their employers. In 2014, all that could change as health insurance exchanges open their doors - as mandated by healthcare reform. Like all mandates, however, this directive does not impact...