Healthcare reform

There is a lot riding on the Supreme Court’s health reform decision for all stakeholders. Brokers and consultants need to be prepared to advise their clients, says EBA Advisory Board member Mark Gaunya, who highlights what you should be thinking about while we wait for the decision.

Eric Cantor pulls no punches about what Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will do to "Obamacare" if the Supreme Court leaves any of President Barack Obama's health care reform law intact.

As if the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act didn’t give employers enough to worry about, a PPACA-related regulatory headache may be taking hold for small firms.

Investors could be excused for avoiding health insurance and hospital stocks as a U.S. Supreme Court decision nears on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law — an outcome that could send the companies' shares down 10% or more.

Republican Mitt Romney last week laid out his vision for a "consumer market" health care approach to replace President Barack Obama's sweeping reform law, whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the legislation this month.

Industry groups are being proactive in preparing their membership for the Supreme Court’s ruling on health care reform — which is expected at any time — as they know no matter the ruling, the business has changed forever.

Later this month, employers will know - based on the Supreme Court ruling whether to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - if their employees must have health insurance. Should the law and all of its provisions be ruled constitutional, the cost of offering health benefits may prove too much for some employers, allowing employees to seek coverage from state-run insurance exchanges.

Are we moments, days, weeks or months away from a Supreme Court ruling on health care reform?

A full 42% of employee benefit managers hope the Supreme Court will this month rule that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional, according to research conducted by Employee Benefit News.

Three major U.S. health insurers that provide coverage to millions of Americans said they would keep some protections included in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the law.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Thursday the administration will be ready to respond if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of the health care reform law in a landmark ruling expected this month.

Although the entire HR/benefits industry is waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act later this month, 86% of single employers and corporations will or are likely to continue to provide health coverage to their employees in 2014, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

Health care reform likely enabled about 6.6 million young adults to join their parents' health insurance plans last year, a report found on Friday, though problems with medical bills and debt remained an issue.

UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer by market value, said it would maintain the health coverage protections included in President Barack Obama's health care law regardless of how the Supreme Court rules on the legislation.

Health care reform enabled an estimated 6.6 million young adults to join their parents' health insurance plans last year, according to a Commonwealth Fund report, though problems with medical bills and debt remain an issue.

Employers believe that the Supreme Court will overturn the individual mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but will allow different provisions to remain in the law, according to a recent survey.

Health reform is in such a chaotic state and will continue to be so even after the Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of PPACA - and the November election. This is where scenario planning can help. At the April conference for the Institute for HealthCare Consumerism, I listened to a panel on alternative planning scenarios in regard to health reform using scenario planning. Let's see how it works.

With health care reform's medical loss ratio rebate reporting starting this month, there is still much uncertainty among employers about how the rebates will work, leading to an opportunity for brokers to fill that all-important trusted adviser role.

On March 19, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services jointly issued FAQs addressing the new summary of benefits and coverage requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although the agencies released final regulations only a few weeks prior, the FAQs provide additional guidance and clarification.

More than half of Americans with individual market health insurance coverage in 2010 were enrolled in so-called "tin" plans, which provide less coverage than the lowest "bronze"-level plans in the Affordable Care Act, and therefore would not be able to be offered in the health insurance exchanges that are being created under the law, according to a Commonwealth Fund. The analysis suggests that once the state-based exchanges — set up to make it easier for individuals and small businesses to shop for health insurance — go into effect in 2014, many of these Americans will be able to purchase plans that offer better coverage. In addition, many will be eligible for premium subsidies that will help offset the cost of the plans.