Benefits Think SCOTUS ruling on ACA subsidies a call to action for employers
Commentary: With the Supreme Court decision behind us, there are a series of critical concerns employers and their advisers must focus on now.
Healthcare reform
Benefits Think The ACA lawsuits arent over yet
Commentary: The next case to watch, launched by Speaker John Boehner last November, could once again put public exchange assistance in jeopardy.
Supreme Court focuses on ACAs intent, not specific language
Eliminating subsidies would destabilize the individual insurance market in any state with a federal exchange, Chief Roberts says.
Benefits Think 6 critical steps for employers in wake of ACA decision
Today, in a 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice Roberts, the Supreme Court ruled in King v. Burwell that subsidies used to purchase health insurance in the 36 states on the federally facilitated marketplace are legal, thus avoiding the death spiral so often referred to by Congress. What does this ruling mean for employers?
Employers will maintain business as usual post SCOTUS decision
The time of what-ifs for employers ended Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling upholding the challenge to state subsidies in King v. Burwell, and employers should maintain business as usual going forward, according to most industry observers.
SCOTUS decision returns adviser focus to ACA compliance
The Supreme Courts highly anticipated decision in King v. Burwell to uphold subsidies on the federal exchange removes uncertainty and shifts the focus of advisers and their clients back to ACA compliance.
Benefits Think The real lesson from SCOTUS subsidy decision
Commentary: The ACA is unremovable, says columnist Nelson Griswold, so advisers must learn how to leverage it.
Benefits Think Post-SCOTUS decision, advisers must focus on client impact
Commentary: Chances of the industry ever being the way it was prior to the ACA are nonexistent, which we should all hail as a good thing, says columnist Wendy Keneipp following the Supreme Courts decision to uphold ACA subsidies.
Wendy Keneipp
Q4intelligence
SCOTUS upholds subsidies, industry shifts attention to other ACA fixes
A 6-3 decision in favor of the HHS secretary in King v. Burwell means tax credits can continue to be used to purchase health coverage in states using the federal exchange.
MLR legislation gets new legs in the Senate
The Senate yesterday revived its effort to separate broker commissions from a medical loss ratio formula created by the Affordable Care Act.
Senate bill aims to level the playing field for brokers and navigators
Brokers and agents welcome legislation introduced Tuesday to the Senate that would enhance broker access to information about marketplace enrollment, leveling the playing field with navigators and assisters.
Benefits Think Health reform and employer reporting: Another mountain to climb
Commentary: The vast majority of employers are not prepared to meet and some remain simply unaware of the employer mandates complex reporting obligations.
King v. Burwell: Understanding the Supreme Courts looming decision
Commentary: Billions of dollars in federal subsidies are on the line in the Supreme Courts highly anticipated King v. Burwell decision expected any day now. What does that mean for the benefits industry?
House votes to repeal medical device tax
The House passed H.R. 160, the Protect Medical Innovation Act, by a vote of 280 to 140. The bill was introduced by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
GOP plan to sustain subsidies if King wins is flawed, actuaries say
A legislation proposal by 32 Republicans that would temporarily preserve federal premium subsidies for Healthcare.gov enrollees through August 2017 if the Supreme Court rules them unconstitutional in King v. Burwell would simply bandage a festering wound. Thats the conclusion of a recent American Academy of Actuaries analysis.
Employee benefit lobbyists lay out legislative agenda
Ending the Cadillac tax, simplifying the reporting process and eliminating the automatic enrollment requirement are a few of the legislative recommendations the American Benefits Council is urging Congress to act on.
Inspector General questions accuracy of $2.8B in ACA Subsidies
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services internal controls did not effectively ensure the accuracy of nearly $2.8 billion in financial assistance payments to insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act during the first four months that the payments were made, according to a new government report.
Small businesses remain in ACA delay limbo
Small-size employers with between 51 and 100 employees currently in large-business group health plans will have to transition to small-business group plans upon their renewal on or after Jan. 1, 2016.
Burwell: ACA conversation should focus on health care, not politics, post-SCOTUS ruling
HHS Secretary Burwell says a Supreme Court ruling upholding the legality of subsidies on the federal exchange should shift the conversation about the ACA away from politics and toward improving access to affordable quality health care.
Assurant to officially exit health insurance market
Assurant announced June 10 it will exit the health insurance market and sell some small group business lines to insurance holding company National General Holdings.