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08/28/2013

Treasury Releases Final Rules On ACA Individual Mandate.
Yesterday, the Treasury Department issued final rules on the Affordable Care Act individual mandate, which is set to take effect on January 1, the Wall Street Journal Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (8/28, Dooren) reports on its “Wash Wire” blog. The rules codify the penalties and exemptions associated with the ACA. Individuals who opt out of the ACA will face a fine of $95 fine next year or 1% of income above a certain threshold, which ever is greater. The fine increases to $695 per person or 2.5% of taxable annual income in 2016.

The final rules “meshes with another regulation on the individual mandate that the Department of Health and Human Services finalized in June,” CQ Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (8/28, Adams, Subscription Publication) reports.

Reuters Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (8/28, Dixon, Temple-West), The Hill Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (8/28, Hattem) “Regwatch” blog, and Kaiser Health News Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (8/28, Carey) also report on the story.

IRS Enforcement Of ACA Individual Mandate Detailed. Washington Post Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (8/28) columnist Michelle Singletary details how the ACA penalties are to be enforced by the Internal Revenue Service. Singletary notes, however, that the ACA “prohibits the IRS from using its usual tough collection tools — getting a lien against your property or putting a claim on your wages — to collect any payment you owe related to the individual responsibility provision of the health-care act.” She claims that “the government will be watching to see whether people figure out how to game the system.”

06/20/2013

Exchange Options Will Vary Widely From State To State.

Over the weekend through Monday, a handful of outlets, including a major national paper and wire service, carried reports focusing on exchanges, their costs, and the outreach both private and public entities are attempting to enroll the uninsured in them. First, a front page story in the New York Times Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/17, A1, Abelson, Subscription Publication) reports that Americans purchasing health coverage through the new state insurance exchanges “will find that their choices vary sharply, depending on where they live.” While some states, like California, Colorado and Maryland “have attracted an array of insurers,” people in other states “may be limited to an already dominant local Blue Cross plan and a few newcomers with little or no track record in providing individual coverage, including the two dozen new carriers across the country created under the Affordable Care Act.” Administration officials “estimate that most Americans will have a choice of at least five carriers when open enrollment begins in October.”

06/20/2013

AMA: Large US Health Insurers Processing Claims Faster.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/18, Suchetka) reports, “Large health insurers in the United States are processing claims faster, more accurately and with better explanation, according to the” American Medical Association’s annual National Health Insurance Report Card Share to FacebookShare to Twitter. “Not only that, insurers are denying fewer claims than they have in the past.” These “findings, based on a random sample of about 2.6 million electronic health insurance claims submitted in February and March of this year, were announced Monday by the AMA,” and include claims paid by Medicare, UnitedHealthcare, Regence, Humana, Health Care Service Corporation, Cigna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Aetna.

06/20/2013

GAO Cautions Exchanges May Not Be Ready By October 1.

On its front page, the Wall Street Journal Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/19, A1, Radnofsky, Needleman, Subscription Publication) reports that the Government Accountability Office is set to release two reports Wednesday which cast doubt on the ability of the Federal and state governments to get the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges up and running by October 1. According to the GAO, officials across the country have missed several major deadlines, and there is still a significant amount of work to do on most of the exchanges. In its most cautious assessment yet, the GAO says in the reports, “Whether [the government’s] contingency planning will assure the timely and smooth implementation of the exchanges by October 2013 cannot yet be determined.”

The AP Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/19) adds that the GAO report also says, “Much progress has been made in establishing the regulatory framework and guidance required for this undertaking, and (the administration) is currently taking steps to implement key activities of the (exchanges). Nevertheless, much remains to be accomplished within a relatively short period of time.” As the AP translates, this means: “most of the specs have been written, but the all wiring hasn’t been laid, and what will happen when they flip the switch nobody really knows.”

06/13/2013

Analysis: Most Young Who Would See “Rate Shock” Eligible For Subsidies.

The Hill Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/7, Baker) “Healthwatch” blog reports that consulting firm Avalere Health has released a new analysis which found that “most of the young, healthy people whose premiums will rise under President Obama’s healthcare law will be eligible for tax credits to help with the added costs.” According to Avalere, “Nationwide, two-thirds of uninsured people younger than 30 will be eligible for subsidies.” As the article explained, these “young, healthy people are critical to the law’s success.”

Modern Healthcare Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/7, Block, Subscription Publication) reports that the Avalere analysis “downplays some of the concerns that the healthcare reform law will lead to insurance rate shock for younger people.”

Businesses With Many Young, Healthy Workers Will See Increasing Costs Under ACA. On the front page of its Business Journal section Thursday, the Wall Street Journal Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/7, Needleman, Subscription Publication) reported on how the Affordable Care Act will likely raise costs for young and healthy workers, disproportionately impacting those businesses with large numbers of these employees. On the other hand, this will benefit companies with older, sicker, or higher-risk workers.

06/13/2013

Many Low-Wage Workers May Not Insure Under ACA.

On the front page of its Business Journal, the Wall Street Journal Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/7, B1, Maltby, Subscription Publication) reports that many low-wage workers may remain uninsured next year, despite the ACA penalties that will kick in, because they cannot afford it or do not understand the options offered. For example, an employee earning $30,000 at the landscaping company the article profiles would pay $2,850 a year for health insurance premiums under the law, or just a 1% penalty of $300.

06/13/2013

Obama Administration Prepares To Launch ACA Outreach Campaign.

Politico Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/7, Haberkorn, Cunningham) reports on the “substantial messaging effort” the Obama Administration is beginning to “sell Obamacare to the public this summer.” The aim is to get as many Americans as possible to “sign up for health coverage through the new Obamacare exchanges starting on Oct. 1.” The article notes that the Administration is working with both Democrats and Republicans, though with Republicans the meetings have been more about “implementation” rather than outreach.

The Washington Post Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/7, Rogers) “Post Politics” blog calls implementation of the Affordable Care Act “an obligation” President Obama “can’t escape,” as well as a “must-do.” Indeed, the blog continues, “He has to get out there and sell it, despite the growing unpopularity of his signature accomplishment.”

06/11/2013

ACA’s Tanning Bed Tax Finalized.
US News & World Report Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/11, Fox) reports on Monday, the IRS finalized regulations requiring a 10 percent excise tax on tanning bed businesses, set as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The tax was designed to “help offset the cost of insuring more Americans” under the law and is expected to raise $2.7 billion over the next decade.

The Hill Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/11, Baker) “Healthwatch” blog reports that while some lawmakers, backed by the industry group for tanning, have tried to stop the tax, it has “generally not been as controversial as other taxes in the healthcare law — in part because indoor tanning contributes to the risk of developing cancer, which adds to national healthcare costs.” The Hill Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/11, Goad) “Regwatch” blog also reports.

The Atlantic Wire Share to FacebookShare to Twitter (6/11, Bump) looks into the cost of various procedures provided for free under the ACA, to determine how many “tanning sessions” would be needed to offset each service. For example, “tanning salon patrons will need 527 single sessions in order to off-set someone’s colonoscopy.”