On January 19, 2011, members of the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill by a vote of 245-189, a measure to repeal the Obama Administration’s nearly $900 billion health care reform legislation, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Three Democrats joined the House’s 242 Republicans in unanimously supporting the bill. Republicans have not yet presented a substitute bill to replace PPACA.
Lake Forest, IL (PRWEB) January 6, 2011
Forest Financial Group, an employee benefits consulting firm, is pleased to announce the formal addition of a full-service human resource consulting suite of services and capabilities, including performance management, HR assessments, total rewards, staffing and organizational development. All solutions are custom-tailored to the clients’ specific needs, and can be delivered on a project or retained basis.
However, if employees perceive the health plan as a benefit primarily addressing illness, can the messaging and benefits of wellness and preventive care through the plan get muddied?
The results of the 2010 midterm elections have important implications for health care reform implementation. Repealing the health care reform law was a popular promise on the campaign trail, but repeal — and even significant change — is unlikely while President Obama wields the veto pen. Nevertheless, health care reform will remain a leading issue for the new Congress, creating an uncertain environment for employers as they plan for implementation of the law’s major provisions in 2014.
Affected Plans: Group health plans.
Timing: The new Congress will convene in January 2011 and govern through the end of 2012.
The Internal Revenue Service has released a draft Form W-2 for 2011, which employers use to report wages and employee tax withholding. The IRS also announced Tuesday that it will defer the new requirement for employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan, making that reporting by employers optional in 2011.
The draft Form W-2 includes the codes that employers may use to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan. The Treasury Department and the IRS have determined that this relief is necessary to provide employers the time they need to make changes to their payroll systems or procedures in preparation for compliance with the new reporting requirement. The IRS will be publishing guidance on the new requirement later this year.
By Ann Marie Breheny – Towers Watson
A report from the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB) outlines tax reform options, including some with implications for retirement, health care and education savings accounts. PERAB was charged with evaluating the advantages and drawbacks of measures to simplify the tax code, increase tax compliance and reform corporate taxes. The board was told not to consider changes that would raise taxes for families earning less than $250,000 a year. On August 27, PERAB submitted its report to President Obama.
WASHINGTON — Your company just denied your disability claim. What do you do now? How long do you have to file an appeal? And with whom? The Obama administration is planning to upgrade consumer protections for tens of millions of workers and family members covered by health, disability and pension plans, ordering companies to clearly explain decisions on claims and how employees can dispute denials. The basic idea is to require health and other plans to spell out what a worker needs to know to safeguard his rights. “People need to have a clear roadmap to appeal claims,” Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary for employee benefits at the Labor Department, said in an interview. Department officials also want to make the appeals process more responsive. One of the changes under consideration would require health plans to decide appeals for urgent medical care in 24 hours, instead of up to 72 hours as currently allowed.
Given layoffs, benefit cuts and unemployment stuck at 9.5 percent, private-sector workers read with chagrin a report showing that federal employees have total compensation packages worth twice as much as private-sector workers. Using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, USA Today reported that the average for pay in the private sector is $50,482 a year. The average salary in state and local government nationwide is slightly higher – $53,056 a year.
The Census Bureau released their annual report on poverty, income, and the uninsured this morning; the report is online and can be found here. Important figures you need to know from the health insurance section of the report:
· The total number of uninsured rose to 50.6 million, an increase of 4.3 million compared to 2009.
· The uninsured rate rose 1.3 percentage points to 16.7 percent. As previously noted, this uninsured rate matches the August total unemployment rate—including discouraged workers who have left the workforce and part-time workers who cannot find full-time employment—of 16.7 percent.
The Wall Street Journal had a front-page article outlining insurers’ plans to raise premiums as a specific consequence of the health law’s passage. While Democrats have trumpeted the various consumer benefits taking effect on September 23, the article notes that insurance companies have informed state regulators “it is those very provisions that are forcing them to increase rates.” For instance, Aetna attributed increases of 5-7% in California and Nevada to the extra benefits, and “in Wisconsin and North Carolina, Celtic Insurance Co. says half of the 18% increase it is seeking comes from complying with health-law mandates.”