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Special Edition
Welcome to our Special Edition of the Bowles Benefits Brief focusing on federal health care reform. We are issuing this Special Edition due to the important changes that affect health care benefits. In some form or another, almost everyone is affected by this historic legislation. Whether as a business owner, third party administrator, insurer or individual, health care reform is likely to impact you. For this reason, we devote this issue to a general overview of the reform legislation followed by specific articles on changes becoming effective soon and the guidance issued to date on these changes. As always, these articles provide a general overview only. The law itself is over 2,000 pages and significant guidance will be necessary over the years to come to resolve many ambiguities and questions about applying the new laws to health care benefits. We will continue to keep you informed of new guidance and developments in upcoming issues of the Benefits Brief. For now, we hope that this Special Edition will provide a helpful summary of the major changes on the immediate horizon. If you have questions about specific situations or provisions, please do not hesitate to contact us. |
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Group Health Plan Compliance After Health Care Reform:
The Marathon Has Just Begun
By: Lenna R. Chambers
The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010, and companion legislation, the Health Care and Education Tax Credits Reconciliation Act of 2010 (referred to collectively as “PPACA”), has significantly changed the compliance landscape for group health plans. The barrage of new information might leave employers sponsoring group health plans with the impression that they are sprinting, but the finish line is miles (in this case years) away. Employers who approach their efforts to comply with the new law methodically will have an upper hand in this long-haul race.
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To Grandfather or Not to Grandfather?
By: Lesley A. Russo
PPACA includes a number of new requirements for health plans and health insurance issuers; however, certain plans existing as of March 23, 2010 are exempt from many of these new requirements. Interim final rules (the “Grandfathering Rules”) were released on June 14, 2010, regarding what will or will not jeopardize the status of these plans, referred to as grandfathered health plans.
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Coverage of Dependents Required Until Age 26
By: Jill E. Hall
Perhaps the most significant immediate change to health plans brought about by PPACA is the requirement that health plans extend coverage of dependents to age 26. Group health plans are not required to offer coverage to dependents, but if they choose to do so they must extend eligibility for dependent children until their 26th birthday.
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