The Obama administration announced final regulations implementing the requirement that most Americans have health insurance coverage by Jan. 1 or pay a fine. When filing 2014 taxes in 2015, individuals must indicate on their returns if they have health insurance coverage and, if not, pay a fine. The individual penalty is the greater of $95 or 1 percent of income, rising to the greater of $695 or 2.5 percent of income, in 2016. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than 2 percent of Americans… Continue Reading

  Last Thursday, the IRS launched a website featuring information about ACA tax-related provisions, providing public information about premium tax credits, employer mandates, and tax exemption for insurance companies A link to the IRS website on the ACA is here

  The Washington Post created an extremely helpful graphic to show how states have responded to health reform. It shows which states challenged the ACA in court, whether they chose to implement a state based health insurance marketplace, and where they stand on Medicaid expansion. See the graphic here.

  A little publicized delay in one of the key affordability provisions of the ACA has recently been discovered. The Obama administration delayed the provision for 1 year that would place a limit on out-of-pocket costs, including deductibles and co-payments. The limit on out of pocket costs was not supposed to exceed $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family. This delay in implementation was posted on an administrative website in February and was not formally announced, at least until it was discovered by… Continue Reading

    With the impending launch of health insurance marketplaces in October, several states that opted to run their own marketplace are launching innovative advertising and outreach efforts. The launch of these marketplaces may be one of the biggest (in terms of expenditures) public outreach campaigns we have seen in decades. Read this story which provides a summary and links to various outreach strategies.

  There is very serious concern about the Affordable Care Act, especially among businesses. Many employers are trying to estimate the impact the law’s mandate that employers provide coverage to full time employees will have on their bottom line. Likely, the effect will vary depending on the specific situation of each business, in particular the type of workers and the typical profit margin of the business. One of the best examples of business impact may be agriculture, which typically has slim profit margins and a… Continue Reading

The federally run health insurance marketplace that will begin operation October 1 in Nebraska will likely have at least 4 insurers. The companies are Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, which already has the biggest share of the state’s health insurance market; Coventry Health Care of Bethesda, Md., which already competes in Nebraska; CoOportunity, the cooperative health care provider in Iowa and Nebraska that was created with financing from the federal government; and Health Alliance Midwest Inc., a managed care company from Urbana, Ill…. Continue Reading