As everyone who was not on Mars this summer knows, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a surprising and historic decision upholding key provisions of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). To help employers navigate the requirements of the law now that it has the stamp of approval of the Supreme Court, and to provide other updates on developments in federal health care reform, members of the Stoel Rives employee benefit and employment groups have been touring the region with a 90-minute presentation entitled “Health Care Reform After the Supreme Court’s Decision: Group Health Plan Update 2012.” The seminars were presented by Stoel Rives attorneys Howard Bye-Torre, Melanie Curtice, Bethany Bacci, Steve Woodland, Matthew Durham, Carolyn Walker, James Dale, Renae Saade, and Tony DeCristoforo in Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Boise, and Anchorage during September and October.
Shameless Plug Alert! Webinar Presentation on October 25, 2012
If you missed the show when it came to your town or are just interested in learning about this complex and evolving area of employee benefits law, there is one more opportunity to attend the seminar via a webinar which will be conducted on Thursday, October 25 at noon, Pacific Time. To RSVP for the webinar and get instructions for attending, please click here.
What’s Covered
The seminars reviewed the Supreme Court decision upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and also some of the ACA’s impacts which have already been felt by group health plans and employers, such as the requirement to cover children through age 26. Regulatory developments planned for 2013 are also discussed, including:
- the requirement to report the cost of health care coverage on W-2s;
- the new disclosure document required by the ACA, the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBCs);
- required 100% coverage for FDA-approved contraceptive methods for women; and
- the reduction to $2,500 of the maximum amount that an employee can contribute to a health care flexible spending account.
The seminars also discussed the new two federal fees on group health plans for 2013-2018, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute fee and the transitional reinsurance program fee. The seminars concluded with a discussion of the ACA requirements for 2014, including
- the mandate for individuals to have health insurance coverage;
- employer pay-or-play penalties, including new IRS guidance on the definition of “full-time” employees for purposes of the penalties;
- recent IRS guidance on the 90-day maximum waiting period for health plans.
We look forward to seeing you online for the webinar on October 25.