Preparing Employers and Employees for 2021 Benefit Plans Decisions
This post was updated on February 6, 2024, to reflect the 2024 Federal Poverty Level announced in January 2024. On August 23, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service issued Rev. Proc. 2023-29, announcing that the Affordable...more
On December 14, 2018, District Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the Affordable Care Act or ACA (a/k/a “ObamaCare”) is unconstitutional and therefore...more
After dominating the agenda for most of 2017, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seemed to take a backseat at first as Republicans shifted their focus to enacting tax legislation. The initial momentum behind the bipartisan...more
The fifth Open Enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) started on November 1st, and will continue for a scant 45 days ending on December 15, 2017. This year, not only has the Open Enrollment been cut in half,...more
As 2017 comes to an end, we are pleased to present our traditional End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we are presenting our “To Do” Lists in four separate Employee Benefits Updates. This Part 1 will cover...more
On the morning of July 28, 2017, another effort to repeal or replace the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) failed in a 49-51 Senate vote when three Republican senators voted against the bill. Attempts to pass even a trimmed down...more
House Republicans append a Manager's Amendment to the AHCA; HHS tells states they will have increased flexibility on Medicaid; and Florida previews its 1115 waiver amendment requests....more
Late last week, two major proposals arose that will have a significant impact on the health care industry. First, the Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under new HHS Secretary Tom Price...more
On February 15, 2017, CMS issued a proposed rule which the Trump administration contends will reform and stabilize the individual and small group health insurance market exchanges created pursuant to the Affordable Care Act...more
In an effort to stabilize the Exchanges and encourage issuer participation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently extended the federal Exchange application and rate filing deadlines and published a...more
Ways & Means Leadership Changes – Health Policy Implications Looming: As Congress pushes forward with a two-year budget deal, and new Speaker Paul Ryan begins his tenure as the top Republican in the House of...more
Iowa's largest insurer joins the State's Marketplace for coverage year 2017; carrier changes are announced for Marketplaces in Kentucky, Oklahoma and Wyoming; and South Dakota's Governor convenes the Health Care Solutions...more
We are now more than two weeks into the Affordable Care Act (ACA’s) second open enrollment period, and 765,000 individuals have obtained coverage through HealthCare.gov. On Capitol Hill, House lawmakers filed a lawsuit...more
With the 2015 Open Enrollment Period (OEP) officially launched as of November 15, this week’s news highlights Marketplaces’ preparation for and tracking of outreach and enrollment – including 100,000 applications submitted on...more
Welcome to the first publication of the “Manatt on Health Reform: Weekly Highlights” newsletter. Many of you are familiar with the healthcare reform tracking efforts and weekly newsletters we produced for the KidsWell...more
In This Issue: - Implementation of the Affordable Care Act - Other Federal Regulatory Initiatives - Other Congressional and State Initiatives - Other Health Care News - Upcoming Hearings and Markups ...more
With the first annual Affordable Care Act open enrollment in the books (although the end of open enrollment is still something of a moving target – more on that later), everyone is examining, discussing, applauding and...more
Since President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 2010, various provisions of the law have taken effect. However, its core pieces become effective this year....more
Health & Welfare Plans - Health Care Reform: Federal Health Insurance Marketplace Opens With Technical “Glitches” - The federal health insurance marketplace (also known as the federal “exchange”) began accepting...more
In This Issue: Leading the News; Implementation of the Affordable Care Act; Other HHS and Federal Regulatory Initiatives; Other Congressional and State Initiatives; Other Health Care News; and Hearings and Mark-Ups...more
After 16 days of government shutdown, Congress voted to reopen the government and avert default without defundingthe Affordable Care Act, delaying the individual mandate, stripping the medical device tax from the law or...more
In This Issue: - Top News ..Judge Orders $237.4 Million Penalty Against Tuomey for Stark Law and False Claims Act Violations ..Glitches and Demand Lead to Marketplace Frustration ..HHS Delays Small...more
There is only one week left of Congress’ summer recess. While the members have been in their home districts, the agencies in Washington have been finalizing Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations on everything from the...more
In response to security concerns about personal information in the health insurance exchanges, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new security agreement for the data hubs where this information...more
With less than 50 days until open enrollment begins, tensions in Washington and around the country are high among health care stakeholders. ...more