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Tag Archives: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Vinson Declares PPACA Unconstitutional
Vinson, a judge in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Fla., says in a ruling on State of Florida et al. vs. United States Department of Health and Human Services et al. (Case Number 3:2010-cv-00091-RV), that Congress has no authority under the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution to enforce the “minimum essential coverage provision” in PPACA.
The PPACA minimum coverage provision would require individuals to buy health coverage. If the provision takes effect as enacted, it will require many people with incomes above a certain level who do not get health coverage from their employers to buy a minimum level of health coverage or else pay a penalty. The provision, set to take effect in 2014, provides exceptions for individuals with religious objections to owning health coverage and for some individuals who cannot find affordable health coverage.
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PPACA: The Bad Nuts and the Bad Bolts
By Allison Bell Some parts of the Affordable Care Act simply don’t work for small employers, a New Jersey business owner testified today at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., the new chairman of the … Continue reading
Projection: PPACA to have “moderate effect” on health spending growth rates
U.S. health spending is expected to reach nearly $4.6 trillion by 2019, growing at an average annual rate over the next decade of 6.3%, as opposed to a 6.1% rate anticipated before reform, according to economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
By 2019, health care is predicted to account for nearly one of every five U.S. dollars spent or about 19.6% of the gross domestic product, 0.3 percentage points higher than projected previously.
“In the aggregate, it appears that the Affordable Care Act will have a moderate effect on health spending growth rates and the health care share of the economy,” says Andrea Sisko, lead author of the study and economist at CMS.
At the same time, she explains that “differences in spending patterns, by year and by payer, reflect reform’s many major changes to health care coverage and financing.” Continue reading
Posted in Health Care, Health Care Reform
Tagged CMS, Health care reform, HHS, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA
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Health-reform regs overhaul claims appeals process
The Obama Administration released interim final regulations aimed at creating a system of checks and balances for the internal and external appeals processes of health claims.
Governed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the interim final rule requires group health plans and insurers to establish a comprehensive appeals processfor patients who appeal decisions on coverage, services and claim payments. The interim final regulations apply to self-funded health plans, but not to grandfathered plans under the PPACA.
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury issued the interim final rule, which will take effect on Sept. 21, 2010. Continue reading
PPACA checklist for open enrollment
Like Santa, I imagine you’ll be making a list and checking it twice (20 times?) to make sure you have all your talking points in order so you can communicate effectively to employees how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will affect their benefits enrollment options.
(You might even envy Santa, in that he only has to check his list for young children, not adults up to age 26!)
At any rate, to help you ensure you communicate anything and everything, Mercer’s developed a list of what you’ll want to do and say before enrollment season kicks off this fall — and surely before many PPACA provisions take effect for plan years beginning on or after Sept. 23 (for most plans, Jan. 1, 2011). Take notes, pros. Here’s what to do if you have:
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