Healthcare reform

Large employers are playing a waiting game in the coming year on health care cost saving strategies as many wait and see how Washington politics play out.

While Montana has one of the nation’s lowest head counts, it ranked a close second behind New Hampshire in terms of the highest rate of 2015 public exchange re-enrollment among 34 states that direct their residents to Healthcare.gov.

Brokers continue to be a vital resource for individuals enrolling in health care coverage on the marketplaces setup under the ACA, with some brokers saying in 2015 they helped more than 100 individuals enroll in health care coverage on the marketplaces.

The IRS continues to seek industry input on the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax on high-cost employer-sponsored health plans.

A new coalition representing the public and private sectors, as well as Republicans and Democrats, is seeking a full repeal of the ACA’s excise tax on high-cost group plans.

Not according to employers, who are turning to brokers to help them navigate the ACA, explore technology capabilities and administer group plans, a new study finds.

The honor recognizes extraordinary contributions such as significantly increasing a firm’s sales and/or market share, providing strategic consulting to help clients achieve their highest goals, fostering employee benefit innovations, advocating successfully for adviser causes and, in general, elevating the status of all women in the profession.

Michael Turpin, the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s Northeast region, shares his thoughts on the new landscape and the potential impact the deal could have on benefit brokers and the insurance industry.

With just three major insurance companies, brokers must distinguish themselves from carriers, create additional approaches to serve clients and develop alternative risk approaches to health benefits, industry experts say.

After more than 50 votes in Congress and two attempts before the U.S. Supreme Court to mothball the ACA and public exchange marketplace, some Republicans now see the budget reconciliation process as yet another avenue for achieving this long-time goal.

Understanding these ACA compliance requirements and the tools necessary to track the required data can be confusing and overwhelming.

As employers search for ways to trim health care costs, advisers are increasingly exploring the use of data to steer plan design.

Commentary: Waiting for the results of the 2016 presidential election before doing any Cadillac tax planning is not a good benefits strategy.

Commentary: Columnist Nelson Griswold discusses why sophisticated employee benefit advisers are increasingly discussing self-funding of the health plan with mid-size employers.

Commentary: The ACA’s Cadillac tax is like a patient, powerful hurricane moving across the Atlantic. If it makes landfall, the impact will be dramatic.

Aetna’s purchase of Humana confirms analyst predictions of continued consolidation as carriers vie for market share, a trend industry experts fear will limit choice and force brokers to reinvent their business approach.

Commentary: Questions plan sponsors should be asking of their insurance carrier, payroll vendor and benefits technology provider in advance of the ACA’s information reporting requirements.

Although the Supreme Court upheld subsidies on the exchanges, there remain key aspects of the ACA that broker and employer lobbyist organizations continue to seek to amend and/or repeal.

Commentary: With the Supreme Court decision behind us, there are a series of critical concerns employers and their advisers must focus on now.

Commentary: The next case to watch, launched by Speaker John Boehner last November, could once again put public exchange assistance in jeopardy.