November 15, 2011 - (information provided by the National Association of Convenience Stores)
Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Affordable Care Act
The U.S. Supreme Court said yesterday (November 14) that it would hear a challenge to the Obama administration’s health-care overhaul law, with a decision likely to come next summer, just months before the presidential election, the Washington Post reports.
The court said it would decide whether the Affordable Care Act exceeds congressional power by requiring all Americans to have health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty; whether the law can stand alone without an individual mandate; and whether the court can even pass judgment on the act before a penalty is assessed.
As to the last point, if the court determines that the penalty for non-compliance constitutes a tax, then precedent dictates that a determination of the law’s constitutionality must wait until the penalty — tax — is actually levied.
More than 25 lawsuits have been filed since Obama signed the bill into law earlier this year in March 2010, with plaintiffs arguing the law is an unprecedented expansion of the federal government. The court yesterday accepted the case brought by Florida and 25 other states, as well as the National Federation of Independent Businesses.
To date, an appeals court has struck down the law while three other appeals courts have either said the act is constitutional or that it is premature to hear challenges to it.
The Obama administration maintains the act should be upheld as a valid exercise of federal power, similar to Social Security and the Civil Rights Act.
“We know the Affordable Care Act is constitutional and are confident the Supreme Court will agree,” said White House spokesman Dan Pfeiffer.
The Post said oral arguments are likely to take place in March.
October 7, 2011 -- (information provided by the National Retail Federation)
Advisory Panel Says Cost Should be Considered Under Health Care Reform
By J. Craig Shearman
Washington Retail Insight
October 7, 2011
An advisory panel this week recommended that cost should be specifically considered in deciding what health benefits will be required in insurance plans offered under health care reform, largely agreeing with NRF and other members of the newly formed Essential Health Benefits Coalition that affordability must be “paramount.”
“Costs must be taken into account,” the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine said in a 300-page
report issued Thursday. “Unless we are able to balance the cost with the breadth of benefits, we may never achieve the health care coverage envisioned in the Affordable Care Act.”
Last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires that everyone in the United States have health insurance beginning in 2014, with health plans for individuals and small businesses required to have a package of “essential health benefits.” The report from the IOM, an independent board that advises the government on health policy, was made to the Department of Health and Human Services, which will later issue details on what will be required under the package.
“The high cost of health care and coverage is the biggest barrier today to coverage for individuals and employers alike,” said NRF Vice President and Employee Benefits Counsel
Neil Trautwein, who chairs the Essential Health Benefits Coalition. “While we are still reviewing the entirety of the IOM’s recommendations, the question of whether individuals and employers can afford to buy the essential health benefits package must be the crucial consideration.”
“An expansive, costly essential health benefits package could cause many employers to drop coverage and force more Americans into government-subsidized health care at a significant cost to taxpayers,” Trautwein said. “In today’s fragile economy where job creation is a priority, neither employers, workers nor taxpayers can bear the burden of higher health care costs and reduced wages as a consequence.”
Trautwein’s comments came in a
news release issued by the coalition urging DHHS “to hold the cost and affordability of the essential health benefits package paramount as recommended by the Institute of Medicine.”
The coalition cited four criteria it considers essential for the final package:
• The package must be affordable, providing basic services Americans need to protect their health, not coverage for every treatment they might want.
• The package must be flexible, giving individuals and employers the choice to purchase a range of plans and options.
• The package should make it easier for employers to offer and individuals to obtain coverage, saying a benefits package that is too expensive would hinder business and job growth.
• The package must consider all costs associated with its development. The coalition said taxpayer costs will greatly increase if more employers are priced out of offering coverage.
The recently formed coalition is a broad-based organized of trade associations representing large and small employers from various sectors of the U.S. economy, pharmacy benefit managers, and health plans operating in nearly every state.
September 28, 2011 -- (information provided by the National Association of Convenience Stores on September 28, 2011)
WASHINGTON – This week, the Obama administration decided not to ask the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to re-evaluate a health-care case, which could mean it is looking to the U.S. Supreme Court to settle the matter, Politico reports. The high court could be deciding whether or not the health care reform law is constitutional during the middle of a next year’s presidential election.
The Department of Justice will likely ask the Supreme Court to reverse an August ruling by three appeal court judges that found the requirement to purchase health insurance to be unconstitutional. The National Federation of Independent Businesses, several individuals and 26 states joined together to file the suit.
The Justice Department ignored Monday’s deadline to request the entire panel of judges in the 11th Circuit to re-hear the case, which means the decision stands unless the agency requests a high court ruling. The Justice Department has until November to file that petition.
“This confirms what I had already concluded: That the government is confident that it’s going to prevail in the Supreme Court and would like to have a decision sooner rather than later,” said former acting Solicitor General Walter Dellinger, who worked on briefs in favor of the new law.
Most involved with the case expected that it would end up in the Supreme Court. Given the split on appeal court decisions relating to the health care reform law, the high court will likely accept the case.
September 20, 2011
HEALTH CARE LAW UPDATE -- (information provided by the National Restaurant Association on September 20, 2011)
- EMPLOYER MANDATE REPEAL. The NRA has joined in an escalated push by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Reps. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio), Charles Boustany (R-La.) and John Barrow (D-Ga.) to repeal PPACA's employer mandate. The mandate will require employers with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees to offer health coverage to full-time employees starting in 2014. Hatch: The mandate "is a real threat to jobs and job creation" and will push more workers into part-time status as employers try to limit their full-time workforce. Tiberi: The mandate is "a big reason that employers aren't hiring people." Barrow: The mandate will have "an incredibly uneven effect for people who deliver services rather than making things." The NRA is helping to recruit more cosponsors for bills (S. 20 and H.R. 1744) to repeal the mandate. NRA press release http://bit.ly/qMZbOX , Senate bill cosponsors (33) http://1.usa.gov/rdTDO2 , House bill cosponsors (145) http://1.usa.gov/qSsyFm
- BLOCK ENFORCEMENT OF "GRANDFATHER" RULES. The GOP is pushing hard to preserve the status quo for insurance plans in place before Sept. 23, 2010, by making them immune to regulations under PPACA. Interim final regulations issued by HHS last year would take away grandfathered status for these employer plans and subject them to PPACA rules if a business switches insurance carriers, raises employee co-pays, etc. GOP lawmakers are circulating a draft bill to block enforcement of the HHS regulations.
- DEFUND. All GOP senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee last week voted in favor of an amendment by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to block funding to the IRS to implement the 2010 health care law, but Dems on the committee turned it back by a 16-14 party-line vote.
- DEFINE AN "AFFORDABLE" PLAN. PPACA will require businesses with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees to provide "affordable" health coverage to full-time employees starting in 2014. If coverage isn't considered affordable for an employee, covered employers will have to chip in an extra "shared responsibility" payment. In IRS Notice 2011-73, the IRS and Treasury last week asked for comments on a potential formula to define affordability. They suggest looking at wages paid by the employer, rather than an employee's household income. Comments are due Dec. 13. NRA will comment. IRS Notice: http://1.usa.gov/o1bDkl
July 12, 2011
STATE EXCHANGES FOR HEALTH CARE--(information provided by the National Restaurant Association) On July 11, 2011, the US Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule to address the standards states must meet for setting up health care exchanges and the minimum standards insurers will need to meet to offer a plan on the exchange. If the 2010 health care law takes effect as planned, these exchanges are expected to be the go-to source for health insurance for millions of individuals and small businesses starting in 2014. States have until Jan. 1, 2013, to set up their exchanges, but HHS’s July 11 announcement proposes a more flexible process. Comments are due on HHS’s proposal by Sept. 28. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) says it is reviewing the proposed standards now. Last fall, the NRA submitted extensive comments urging a strong role for small businesses as states create health insurance exchanges. HHS announcement http://1.usa.gov/oW3UzB , Washington Post article http://wapo.st/pXporP.
May, 2011
Governor Dennis Daugaard has named South Dakota Retailers Association Executive Director Shawn Lyons to a newly-created Health Insurance Exchange Task Force, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels.
The 63-member Task Force held its first meeting in Pierre on May 19, 2011.
The Task Force is divided into three subcommittees:
1) Operations and Finance
2) Insurance Plan and Market Organization
3) Outreach and Communication
http://healthreform.sd.gov/PlanningGrant.aspx
Health Care Reform Resources:
The following resources provide information regarding the health care reform legislation which passed Congress and was signed by President Obama in March of 2010.
How the Health Care Reform Law Impacts Employers: from the labor law firm of Jackson Lewis
Health Care Reform Cost Calulator: this online tool from the National Retail Federation helps retailers and other businesses determine what penalties they might face under the new federal health care reform law.
Health Care Reform Information: from the National Restaurant Association
HealthReform.gov: information from the US Department of Health & Human Services
Guidance on small business health care tax credit: from the White House website