Healthcare reform

The majority (56%) of employers say they are likely to continue to offer employer-sponsored health insurance after the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act largely goes into effect in 2014, according to a new survey conducted by GfK Custom Research North America.

When it comes to health care, small business owners aren't making any fast moves. Faced with higher premiums again in the year ahead, many business owners have found themselves in a holding pattern. They're concerned about the rising costs and the possible impact of health reform, but unsure about making any changes until they have more clarity or options.

U.S. health care spending experienced historically low rates of growth in 2009 and 2010, according to the annual report of national health expenditures published Monday.

The Obama administration defended its health care overhaul law before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, rejecting arguments by critics who warned that if the government can require people to have health insurance, it might next make them eat broccoli.

Chief Justice John Roberts expressed confidence on Saturday in the decisions by his Supreme Court colleagues on when to recuse themselves, an issue that has emerged in the legal battle over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.

Arranging and financing long-term care is an issue everyone will face yet no one wants to talk about. However, following the Health Department's move to table the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, planning for long-term care is becoming part of the national conversation - and that presents opportunities and challenges for employers.

In the current broker/client business model local relationships are clearly preferred. However, that does not take into account the new health care landscape.

Oral arguments on President Barack Obama's sweeping U.S. health care overhaul will last 5-1/2 hours spread over three days from March 26-28, the Supreme Court said on Monday.

A mounting U.S. deficit could pose a much greater threat to the survival of President Barack Obama's health care reforms than either the Supreme Court or 2012 elections.

U.S. health officials will allow states to select the basic set of medical benefits that must be offered by insurance plans participating in new exchanges mandated by the federal health care overhaul, the government said on Friday.

U.S. health care reforms have enabled 2.5 million young adults to join or remain in their parents' health insurance plans, says the U.S. government on Wednesday, up from 1 million reported earlier this year.

The Supreme Court last week set the schedule for briefs to be filed ahead of hearing arguments in late March over President Obama's sweeping health care overhaul law.

Televising U.S. Supreme Court proceedings would benefit the public, some said at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, while others called the idea possibly unconstitutional and a potentially harmful influence.

The Essential Health Benefits Coalition has backed recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine to the Department of Health and Human Services' on an essential health benefits package.

A vast majority of New York State’s small business owners are giving two thumbs up to health insurance exchanges as a viable way to provide health insurance to their employees, according to a statewide survey commissioned by HealthPass New York, a NYC-based commercial health insurance exchange. The survey also found that exchanges have the potential to change the health care marketplace in New York at a time when many small business owners are struggling to keep afloat.

The leading industry trade organizations expressed disappointment after the December 2 Department of Health and Human Services release of the final medical loss ratio rule failed to remove broker commissions from the administrative side of health reform’s MLR calculation.

It's no secret that most provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act arent' going to win any popularity contests. However, a recent poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation reveals Americans' most liked PPACA provisions.

Most U.S. health insurers last year would have satisfied the much-disputed spending rules under President Obama's health care reform, according to a new report by a congressional watchdog agency.

Anticipating the increase in age of covered dependents to 26 starting in 2011, as required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the benefits team at Dick's Sporting Goods decided to clean the company's benefit rolls data with a dependent eligibility audit before this provision went into effect and before annual enrollment in the fall of 2010.

Eighteen months after passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, group medical benefits costs are on the rise once again, according to The November Employee Benefits Market Survey conducted by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.