<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Ken Mensio, CEBS &#187; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/tag/patient-protection-and-affordable-care-act/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog</link>
	<description>Current Topics in Employee Benefits</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:04:01 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1</generator>
<xhtml:meta xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" name="robots" content="noindex" />
		<item>
		<title>Vinson Declares PPACA Unconstitutional</title>
		<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-insurance/vinson-declares-ppaca-unconstitutional/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-insurance/vinson-declares-ppaca-unconstitutional/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken Mensio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Judge Roger Vinson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PPACA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/?p=677</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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. 
 <a href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-insurance/vinson-declares-ppaca-unconstitutional/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-insurance/vinson-declares-ppaca-unconstitutional/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>PPACA: The Bad Nuts and the Bad Bolts</title>
		<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/ppaca-the-bad-nuts-and-the-bad-bolts/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/ppaca-the-bad-nuts-and-the-bad-bolts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:39:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken Mensio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[afforadable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PPACA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/?p=673</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 &#8230; <a href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/ppaca-the-bad-nuts-and-the-bad-bolts/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/ppaca-the-bad-nuts-and-the-bad-bolts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Projection: PPACA to have “moderate effect” on health spending growth rates</title>
		<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/projection-ppaca-to-have-%e2%80%9cmoderate-effect%e2%80%9d-on-health-spending-growth-rates/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/projection-ppaca-to-have-%e2%80%9cmoderate-effect%e2%80%9d-on-health-spending-growth-rates/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:54:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken Mensio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CMS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HHS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PPACA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/?p=526</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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." <a href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/projection-ppaca-to-have-%e2%80%9cmoderate-effect%e2%80%9d-on-health-spending-growth-rates/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/projection-ppaca-to-have-%e2%80%9cmoderate-effect%e2%80%9d-on-health-spending-growth-rates/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Health-reform regs overhaul claims appeals process</title>
		<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/self-insured-health-plans/health-reform-regs-overhaul-claims-appeals-process/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/self-insured-health-plans/health-reform-regs-overhaul-claims-appeals-process/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jul 2010 21:02:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken Mensio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Self Insured Health Plans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Appeals process regulations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PPACA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/?p=472</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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. <a href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/self-insured-health-plans/health-reform-regs-overhaul-claims-appeals-process/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/self-insured-health-plans/health-reform-regs-overhaul-claims-appeals-process/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>PPACA checklist for open enrollment</title>
		<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care-reform-2/ppaca-checklist-for-open-enrollment/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care-reform-2/ppaca-checklist-for-open-enrollment/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:28:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken Mensio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CLASS program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dependent coverage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FSAs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HRAs or Archer MSAs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HSAs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lifetime dollar limits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PPACA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pre-existing condition exclusions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/?p=445</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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:
 <a href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care-reform-2/ppaca-checklist-for-open-enrollment/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care-reform-2/ppaca-checklist-for-open-enrollment/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Gov’t unveils new Patient’s Bill of Rights under PPACA</title>
		<link>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/gov%e2%80%99t-unveils-new-patient%e2%80%99s-bill-of-rights-under-ppaca/#utm_source=feed&#038;utm_medium=feed&#038;utm_campaign=feed</link>
		<comments>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/gov%e2%80%99t-unveils-new-patient%e2%80%99s-bill-of-rights-under-ppaca/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:57:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ken Mensio</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health care reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Patient’s Bill of Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PPACA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Preexisting condition exclusions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/?p=386</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Federal regulators released interim final rules implementing a new Patient's Bill of Rights under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The guidance addresses preexisting condition exclusions, retroactive rescissions, lifetime limits and annual dollar limits.

Source: Employee Benefit News article used by permission

"These rules effectively put in place a basic set of consumer protections known over the years as the 'Patient's Bill of Rights.' This is a concept introduced 15 years ago and supported by both Democrats and Republicans," said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in an e-mail statement.

The Federal Register will publish the rules on June 28. The new regulations, issued by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury, will take effect for most plans on or after Sept. 23. For calendar year plans, the rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2011.

The interim final rules, which are nearly 200 pages, focus on PPACA provisions that apply to all health plans, including grandfathered health plans. According to consultants at Hewitt Associates, the provisions in the interim final rules adopt the following: <a href="http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/gov%e2%80%99t-unveils-new-patient%e2%80%99s-bill-of-rights-under-ppaca/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.csibenefits.us/blog/health-care/gov%e2%80%99t-unveils-new-patient%e2%80%99s-bill-of-rights-under-ppaca/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

