Although the employer mandate penalties of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have been delayed until 2015, many other pieces of the ACA take effect this year, in 2014. For example, the prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions, the out-of-pocket limits, and the prohibition on annual or lifetime limits for essential health benefits are all effective for […]
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced a one year delay to the SHOP Exchange (or Marketplace). The SHOP (Small Business Health Options Program), originally scheduled to go live on October 1, 2013 with the individual marketplace, was previously pushed back to November 1. The first delay to […]
On October 2, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued FAQ #6 for the Federally-facilitated Marketplace for small businesses, also known as the SHOP Exchange (FF-SHOPs). The selected questions and responses include information about the following issues: How premiums will be calculated in the FF-SHOPs; How premium rates for small employers with […]
In a press conference held on Thursday, September 26, 2013, the Obama Administration announced a delay impacting online enrollment in the Small Business Health Options Program, better known as the SHOP Exchange. Online enrollment for the SHOP Exchange will now be available on November 1, 2013. Coverage purchased by December 15, 2013 will still be […]
On August 23, the IRS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the tax credit for health insurance expenses of small employers, otherwise known as the Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit. The proposed rules generally incorporate prior IRS guidance on the small business health insurance provided in Notice 2010-44 and 2010-82. See our prior […]
Hold the phones – small businesses with questions about the new Small Business Health Options Program, better known as the SHOP Exchange, may now call the SHOP for answers to general questions. The Health Insurance Marketplace has published an alert for small businesses providing the number for the SHOP call center. Interested small businesses may […]
On Tuesday, July 16th, House Bill 649 was presented to Governor McCrory for signature. H649 makes technical changes to the Small Employer Group Health Coverage Reform Act. The stated purpose of the bill is to “mitigate the effects of the federal Affordable Care Act on North Carolina’s small businesses and to increase stop loss insurance […]
A recent article in The Business Journal by Owen Covington begs the question: Will North Carolina have a marketplace or a mini-mart for health insurance in the fall? A key part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the Health Insurance Marketplace, scheduled to open in October. The marketplace is designed to give families, individuals and […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a brief set of FAQs addressing the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) – only Marketplaces. In this FAQ, CMS clarified that a state generally may not operate a SHOP Marketplace while the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace is operated by the federal government. However, if […]
A new streamlined application for insurance was unveiled yesterday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Essentially, the initial 21 page application (many more if the appendices are included) was converted into three separate applications – two for individuals and one for families. Interestingly, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a new survey yesterday as […]
