healthcare reform
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:
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Unless or until the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed, the Individual and Employer Mandates remain intact, and earlier this month the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued some regulatory guidance pertaining to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.
Posted May 9th, 2017 in Producers, Employers, Individuals
Democrats could literally be heard singing “Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye” after House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act (ACA), a bill that aims to repeal and replace much of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Why the heck would Democrats be singing this song since Republicans are one step closer to getting rid of their signature law? It turns out they were taunting House Republicans who they think won’t get reelected now that they voted to pass the AHCA.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) issued a report dated April 7th and entitled “Affordable Care Act: Assessment of Efforts to Implement the Employer Shared Responsibility Provision.” In other words, TIGTA issued a report about the efforts of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to collect Employer Mandate penalties.
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