The Chartwell Chronicles: An Overview of New Jersey Workers' Compensation
Midyear Premium Increases and Cafeteria Plan Rules
The D&O Renewal Market: Will the Wild Ride of Premium Increases, Stretched Capacity and Restrictive Terms Continue?
Health Reimbursement Arrangement Update
Podcast: Health Reimbursement Arrangements
Is Private/Non-Profit D&O Coverage Under Priced?
Does the Affordable Care Act really make health insurance more affordable?
The Biden administration gave its stamp of approval last week to Colorado’s novel waiver under Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to require premium reductions in a public option program, a first-of-its-kind plan...more
Since I began writing this year-end review in 2013, there have been some common themes – a shift to pay for quality and away from fee-for service, much of which has been brought about by the Affordable Care Act (ACA): efforts...more
Minnesota’s Governor and legislators propose financial assistance options for on- and off-Marketplace individual coverage; Vermont receives final federal approval for the country’s first all-payer ACO model; and a report...more
Regardless of the 2016 general election outcome, a new administration will have to respond to pressing policy issues that will shape continued transformation of the U.S. healthcare system. What are the issues and where do...more
HealthCare.gov consumers begin previewing 2017 coverage options as HHS projects a 9% enrollment increase over last year and an average 22% benchmark premium increase; Oregon study finds increased primary care spending in...more
HHS announces average premium price increases of 7.5% across HealthCare.gov; Michigan and Illinois launch the country’s first joint cloud-based, real-time Medicaid information management system; and the Marketplace carrier...more
CMS permits states to use income information from other means-tested benefit programs for Medicaid eligibility determinations; Alaska’s Medicaid expansion is given the green light to launch today; and Washington State submits...more
Last month, two federal courts of appeals issued opposing decisions on whether the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”) permitted subsidies, in the form of premium tax credits, to health coverage bought...more
In April, the IRS released the 2015 inflation adjustments for Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and HSA-qualified high deductible health plans (HDHPs). A month earlier, HHS released details on the “premium adjustment percentage,”...more
The House and Senate were both on recess this week. On Tuesday, the U.S. suspended the operations of Syria’s U.S. embassy and consulates as the Syrian civil war enters its fourth year. Also Tuesday, details of an NSA...more
A second federal district court judge has ruled in favor of the government on one of the most serious challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The court dismissed a challenge to the...more
A district court in the District of Columbia recently held that the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) rule authorizing premium tax credits to individuals who enroll in health-care coverage through federal exchanges was...more
As previously reported, the federal agencies responsible for drafting the rules implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (the U.S. Labor Department, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Treasury...more
The Affordable Care Act imposes a series of interrelated requirements on individuals, employers and providers. Individuals must maintain coverage or face the prospect of a tax penalty; carriers must offer and renew coverage....more
The deadline to enroll in coverage for January 1 was officially extended by a week, but the new December 23 deadline is fast approaching, and premium payments are required to be paid by the last day of 2013 for January 2014...more
In an October 30th letter addressed to Congressman Jim McDermott, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, left little to interpretation: Qualified health plans (QHPs) purchased through...more
On October 28, 2013, CMS announced that Medicare beneficiaries are realizing significant out-of-pocket savings as a result of health care reform efforts. The savings are based on cumulative savings in the prescription drug...more
Last week, there were two important developments relating to Section 125 cafeteria plans. First, Massachusetts announced that employers will no longer be required to maintain a Section 125 plan. Second, the IRS has modified...more
In This Issue: - Top News ..Deal to Raise Debt Ceiling, End Shutdown Yields No Major Changes to Health Care Law ..Problems with HealthCare.gov Website Continue; HHS Working to Fix Issues ..Kaiser Study...more
I blogged recently about IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) guidance restricting the ability of employers to subsidize individual health insurance premiums for their employees after December 31, 2013. That IRS and DOL guidance...more
Over the years we have seen some employers, particularly small employers, choose to provide health coverage to their employees by paying all or part of the premium for individual insurance policies that the employees have...more
One of the main complaints about the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare is it is bad for business. The cost of requiring health insurance is just too high, and will lead to businesses either 1) shutting down or 2) never...more
Overview - The combination of the federal government shutdown along with the roll out of Obamacare is a once in a lifetime event - sort of like a Lunar Eclipse or Haley's Comet. Or is it is more like the time that you...more
On September 27, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved Arkansas’s waiver to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion by using premium assistance to purchase QHPs in the Health...more
On Friday, September 13, 2013, the IRS released Notice 2013-54 and the DOL issued Technical Release 2013-03 in substantially identical form. This guidance, which is generally effective January 1, 2014, provides much needed...more