Let me begin with a two-part confession: First, I do not claim to be a health reform expert. I have not read through the massive regulation and rely heavily on the interpretation of other, smarter people. Second, I am fairly apolitical. I don’t find politics at the local, national and state levels particularly engaging.
That being said, there’s at least one component of the health reform law that has me scratching my head. Health care reform requires nongrandfathered self-insured and insured group health plans to make changes to their internal appeal procedures and offer external reviews of denied claims. As a result, all plans, whether subject to or exempt from ERISA, will have to follow the same general claim-handling rules.
