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PWC Report: Insurance industry not optimistic on Health Care Reform
As the Senate Finance Committee voted last week, a discouraging report was released from PricewaterhouseCoopers voicing new concerns from the insurance industry about the proposed health care reform...
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CMS Medicare Part D Notification deadline is November 15th
The Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) mandates that certain entities offering prescription drug coverage, including employer and union group health plan sponsors, disclose to all Medicare eligible...
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Health care reform negotiations continue
It looked as though Senate Democratic health care negotiators agreed this week to replace a government-run insurance option with a scaled-back non-profit plan. The government-run plan, one of the...
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Taking a closer look at the manager’s amendment to the healthcare bill
The final Senate Healthcare Bill was released earlier this week with a Manager’s Amendment. Taking a glass half full look at the amendment, a number of the changes have been identified as...
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Obama creates his version to keep healthcare reform alive
President Obama has unveiled his own version of healthcare reform, a measure that blends the Senate and House versions into one with the goal of getting both chambers to pass it. The bill is said to...
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Exploring the nuance of “grandfathering”
Just when the concept of “grandfathering” seemed clear - there is always some nuance to keep us all on our toes. Grandfathering a plan means to basically keep it the same, and in doing so, the...
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Grandfathering a health plan explained
Grandfathering a health plan is an opportunity for employers year over year, provided the health plan can meet the guidelines. Despite what people may think, the ability for clients to “grandfather” a...
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W-2 reporting for employer-sponsored healthcare will start in 2012
The IRS is holding an online webinar on October 31st which reviews the new requirement for employers to report the value of employer-sponsored healthcare coverage on employee’s Form W-2 beginning in...
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The economic and strategic advantages of tiered network health plans
The Boston Globe ran an article this week on “Tiered health plans cutting costs, restricting options”. Tiered health plans, now offered by all of the local Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), are plans...
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Can Healthcare Reform survive without the Individual Mandate?
The SJC heard three days of oral arguments about the individual mandate last week. The arguments were many: Do prior laws prevent us from even discussing it? Is it constitutional? Is it severable from...
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‘Pay or play’ and other important PPACA fee updates
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) effective on January 1, 2014 mandates that an employer with at least 50 full-time employees offer affordable, minimum essential coverage or face a...
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Health insurance buying power: Public marketplaces vs. private exchanges
The Marketplace concept is the backbone of PPACA, to the point of requiring each state to operate one, in some manner, as of January 1, 2014. In fact, on October 1, 2013, every employer was required to...
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Medical marijuana legalized in MA presents health insurance coverage...
The legalization of medical marijuana in the state of Massachusetts was indeed a triumph for many, in particular those with adverse health conditions. Currently, 20 states and the District of Colombia...
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