Producers
Posted July 24th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
Senate Republicans may vote as early as Tuesday on a bill that would repeal and replace key parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but there are still a couple of unknowns.
Posted July 18th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
Senate Republicans introduced the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA) last month which would repeal and replace key parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It’s been amended two times since it was released and is now in its third version. The latest changes were released on July 13th and include the following updates:
Group health plans are almost always subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, also known as ERISA.
This means employers must follow certain rules, such as:
- Providing participants with important information in writing about plan features and funding.
- Establishing an appeals and grievance process for participants to receive benefits from the plan.
- Providing fiduciary responsibilities for those who manage and control plan assets.
Posted July 3rd, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
It appears crunch time is nearing for Senate Republicans who want to repeal and replace key parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While there is no official deadline to pass legislation that would alter the ACA, the artificial deadline is the end of July.
Posted June 20th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
President Donald Trump held a party in the White House Rose Garden to celebrate the passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) by the House of Representatives (House). President Trump touted the House bill as being an “incredible health care plan.” The AHCA is now under consideration by the Senate, and in a closed-door meeting held with several Republican Senators last week, President Trump allegedly said the current version of the AHCA is too “mean” and needs to be “more generous.”
Just how "mean" is the AHCA, and who is it "mean" to?
Posted June 13th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
Under the Obama administration, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued regulatory guidance which shortened the maximum duration of Short-Term Medical (STM) insurance plans to less than 3 months (90 days). This was fully implemented as of April 1, 2017.
Posted June 8th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
The most important person in the healthcare debate right now isn’t President Donald Trump. It isn’t Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and it isn’t Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Heck, it’s not even Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
The most important person in the healthcare debate, right now, is Elizabeth MacDonough. You’re probably not familiar with MacDonough because she likes to stay out of the spotlight, but she has a lot of power and influence in Washington.
Posted May 30th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
Unless or until the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed, the Individual and Employer Mandates remain intact, and earlier this month the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued some regulatory guidance pertaining to the two mandates for 2018.
Posted May 23rd, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
One of the major issues at hand is whether the Trump administration will continue funding the cost-sharing reduction subsidies (CSRs), which are available to people who purchase coverage on the Health Insurance Marketplace. If the CSR subsidy funding is eliminated, there will be a great deal of volatility added to the individual health insurance market, and here’s why.
The fifth installment of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fees will be due on July 31, 2017. As its name suggests, PCORI is a research institute, and it was created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to improve clinical effectiveness. It is partially funded by fees charged to health plans.
The following list contains information and some reminders about the upcoming PCORI fee that is due:
- The fee is paid on the average number of covered lives for the plan year ending in 2016.
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