Healthcare reform

Congressional Republicans last week issued a politically charged report that quoted President Barack Obama's corporate advisers as predicting his 2010 health care overhaul would raise — not lower — the cost of care.

Republicans on Thursday issued a politically charged report that quoted President Barack Obama's corporate advisers as predicting his 2010 health care overhaul would raise — not lower — the cost of care.

Employers continue to look to their adviser to guide them through health care reform uncertainty. In fact, 88% expect their adviser to educate them on health care reform and its implications, according to a recent survey.

U.S. officials on Monday cited two health insurers for excessive premium increases, under consumer protection rules of President Barack Obama's health care reform law that could soon be nullified by the Supreme Court.

In February, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services issued final regulations implementing the new summary of benefits and coverage requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The agencies also released a separate document providing additional guidance on the SBC requirement, which includes a template for the summary, instructions, sample language, a guide for coverage example calculations and the uniform glossary.

Recently, I had an opportunity to attend a luncheon where Florida Governor Rick Scott gave the keynote address. He was surprisingly bright and certainly on top of things here in our sunny state, which has suffered a few economic kicks in the head over the past few years. He spoke on myriad issues and provided a number of positive statistics that indicated his short time in office has been a success. Unemployment is going down, while tourism is going up. Each topic was one of importance, but I was particularly interested in hearing what this first-time politician had to say about Florida's current position on health care reform.

Xavier University, one of the oldest Roman Catholic colleges in the United States, will cut off birth-control coverage for its employees in July, a move that has divided faculty members and students on the Cincinnati campus.

When President Barack Obama criticized Mitt Romney by name this week for embracing a controversial Republican budget proposal, he worded his attack carefully and with bite.

The White House was forced on the defensive on Wednesday as it sought to explain controversial remarks President Barack Obama made earlier in the week about the Supreme Court's review of his signature health care reform law.

There has been a lot of information in the news about health care reform and how it affects small businesses. Yet, I still find many business owners scratching their heads trying to understand what it all means for their businesses. To simplify matters, here are five things small employers must know about employee health benefits—especially in a post-health care reform environment:

For most Americans, what they saw and heard surrounding the historic hearings on health care reform last week hasn’t changed their opinion of the law or the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama said on Monday he was confident the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold the health care reform law that has been one of the signature issues of his presidency.

ERISA defines a multiple employer welfare arrangement as an employee welfare plan or any other arrangement which is established or maintained for the purpose of providing welfare benefits to the employees of two or more "unrelated" entities. Thus, if a welfare plan is maintained by an employer for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to that employer's employees, former employees (e.g., retirees) or beneficiaries (e.g., spouses, former spouses, dependents) of such employees, the plan will be considered a "single employer" plan and not a MEWA.

Among the most controversial requirements of health care reform is a preventive care provision that requires all insurers and nongrandfathered health plan sponsors to cover contraceptives without a deductible or copayment. Coverage includes all FDA-approved contraception methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling.

Protesters packed up signs and TV talkers put away their microphones Wednesday night, the beginning of the long wait till the Supreme Court decides the fate of the Affordable Care Act.

Just as bright yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” and American flags flew high in front of the Supreme Court this week, so did the tempers of the crowds of supporters and opponents of health care reform gathered outside.

Wednesday may be the stickiest part of the three-day hearings at the Supreme Court regarding health care reform’s individual mandate, as the issues being argued on this final day have the greatest potential to make HR/benefits managers lives — and those of the employees and families they serve — quite complicated. What is at hand today is the issue of “severability,” whether the entire Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act must fall if the insurance mandate is found to be unconstitutional, or if the other remaining parts of the law can survive.

The Supreme Court steps were abuzz Tuesday morning with supporters, opponents and onlookers, as they either championed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, called it a major setback to religious freedom and personal liberty, or simply wanted to observe the scene surrounding the historical arguments first-hand.

The atmosphere in the chamber on Monday as the Supreme Court Justices began hearing oral arguments on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was “electric” says James Napoli, an employee benefits lawyer for Proskauer, who attended the proceedings. He’s also the counsel of record for the amicus brief filed on behalf of the American Benefits Council concerning the severability of the individual mandate. In this exclusive interview with EBN, Napoli shares his thoughts on what happened at the Supreme Court yesterday and where he thinks things are headed on the second day of arguments Tuesday.

As the Supreme Court wraps up oral arguments on the core of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — the minimum coverage provision that will address the individual mandate — brokers express their concern surrounding health reform and how they are preparing clients for the future with or without it.