Healthcare reform

A new report from the Urban Institute examines reasons for two or more states to consider combining resources to create a multi-state health insurance exchange under the health care reform law.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill April 5 that would repeal PPACA’s 1099 tax reporting requirement.

A U.S. court will hear oral arguments on June 8 in a government appeal of a federal judge's ruling that struck down President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul law as unconstitutional.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a proposed rule March 31 that establishes the Medicare Shared Savings Program authorized in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

HighRoads, a Boston-based compliance and benefits management firm, conducted a survey months after approval of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, finding that, in general, employers believed that outsourcing costs for health benefits administration will increase because of the law.

Among the many provisions of health care reform legislation is a mandate to cover all preventive services at 100%. Although this provision does not go into effect for grandfathered plans until 2014, it already is in effect for nongrandfathered plans.

As you start your day as a busy benefits professional, you turn on the morning news, and you hear that the Department of Health and Human Services has changed the Form W-2 health insurance reporting requirement effective date from 2011 to 2012.

In this post-health care reform environment, benefit advisers - and their employer clients - face a new world order. For instance, with new restrictions on capping lifetime maximum benefits, the burden of managing the potential financial risk posed by even one employee's catastrophic illness looms large.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued interim guidance to employers on the informational reporting requirements on each employee's annual Form W-2 of the cost of the health insurance coverage they sponsor for employees.

When President Barack Obama signed his health care overhaul into law a year ago, some U.S. companies were quick to flag -- and write down -- the millions of dollars they stood to lose as a result of one aspect of the measure.

More than half of all states have launched lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the healthcare reforms signed into law by President Barack Obama a year ago.

One year ago, President Barack Obama signed into law a sweeping healthcare overhaul to fulfill a long-standing Democratic pledge to ensure healthcare coverage for all Americans.

Currently, more than 12 million people in the United States need some kind of long-term care, with costs ranging from $20/hour for home health care to over $3,000/month for assisted living.

Government regulators responsible for enforcing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act recently announced that they plan to wait until Jan. 1, 2012 to enforce certain provisions related to internal claims and appeals.

The National Conference of State Legislatures has developed a free database of legislation introduced in the states related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Mike Brewer, president of Lockton Benefit Group, urged a U.S. House Committee March 10 to help employers reduce the costs and administrative burdens of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Nearly three quarters of those seeking health insurance in the U.S. individual market in recent years faced roadblocks or were turned down due to prior medical conditions, a report released on Wednesday said.

The IRS is asking for $62 million to prepare for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2012, IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman told the House Appropriations Committee in testimony earlier this month.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners on March 3 released for comment draft legislation that would remove broker compensation from the medical loss ratio calculation. Reportedly “nearly identical” to upcoming legislation from Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers (R), the National Association of Health Underwriters’ Jessica Waltman calls the bill a significant step.

Against a groundswell of state-based unrest, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continues to churn forward under a blanket of contention.