Work With An Agent To Navigate The Confusion Of The Affordable Care Act
The latest provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), took effect on October 1, 2013, when a marketplace of online health benefit exchanges went live, enabling people to apply for coverage. Employers who are in charge of their firms group benefits in Connecticut are looking closely at their coverage options, and for good reason: If an employer has 50 or more full-time employees it is deemed a large employer, and will be assessed a hefty penalty if the health insurance program it offers does not meet minimum value standards set by the government. Employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees will not be subject to new requirements, although they, too, will have new coverage choices available through the new health exchanges, as will employers with 50 to 100 employees.
Understanding the standard means doing the math
To calculate the minimum value, one begins by establishing the expected covered medical costs of essential health benefits (EHB) coverage for the group of people who are covered by a typical self-insured group health plan, and dividing by the total expected allowable costs for EHB coverage for a typical self-insured group health plan population. Employers meet the minimum value standard if their health plan pays 60% or more of the plans portion of the total allowed costs of the benefits that are provided under the plan.
What does all of this mean?
In a word: confusing. In fact, a recent poll found that 62% of employers reported they dont have all of the information they need to make decisions, and that they lack the information needed to understand the myriad options available to them or the changes and possible penalties that they may be facing under the act. Making decisions is even more difficult in the face of continuing changes in deadlines for enrollment and penalties.
The good news is that a professional insurance agent can help employers evaluate all of these choices. Perhaps now more than ever before, employers need to rely on the expertise and guidance of their agent to understand whether they need to adjust their current plan to conform with the act, what kind of changes they need to make, and how to navigate the new insurance options that are now available to them through the new health insurance exchanges. While its a certainty that the passage of the Affordable Care Act will create more complexities for many employers, the acts effect on group benefits in Connecticut will be much easier to understand and implement with the assistance of a professional insurer. Call an agent today.
Understanding the standard means doing the math
To calculate the minimum value, one begins by establishing the expected covered medical costs of essential health benefits (EHB) coverage for the group of people who are covered by a typical self-insured group health plan, and dividing by the total expected allowable costs for EHB coverage for a typical self-insured group health plan population. Employers meet the minimum value standard if their health plan pays 60% or more of the plans portion of the total allowed costs of the benefits that are provided under the plan.
What does all of this mean?
In a word: confusing. In fact, a recent poll found that 62% of employers reported they dont have all of the information they need to make decisions, and that they lack the information needed to understand the myriad options available to them or the changes and possible penalties that they may be facing under the act. Making decisions is even more difficult in the face of continuing changes in deadlines for enrollment and penalties.
The good news is that a professional insurance agent can help employers evaluate all of these choices. Perhaps now more than ever before, employers need to rely on the expertise and guidance of their agent to understand whether they need to adjust their current plan to conform with the act, what kind of changes they need to make, and how to navigate the new insurance options that are now available to them through the new health insurance exchanges. While its a certainty that the passage of the Affordable Care Act will create more complexities for many employers, the acts effect on group benefits in Connecticut will be much easier to understand and implement with the assistance of a professional insurer. Call an agent today.
