Health Care Reform: Changes to "grandfathered plans" could cost businesses.
"I know that there are millions of Americans who are happy, who are content with their health care coverage — they like their plan, they value their relationship with their doctor. And no matter how we reform health care, I intend to keep this promise: If you like your doctor, you'll be able to keep your doctor; if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan.
"So don't let people scare you. If you like what you've got, we're not going to make you change."
President Obama repeated that promise on many occasions as he tried to build the case for health care reform, but he left out a few regulations that recently were issued by government bureaucrats charged with writing the rules. Obeying those rules will determine whether businesses maintain Grandfathered Plan or "GP status," a reference to health insurance plans in existence before the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23, 2010 — plans that will be "grandfathered" into the law if businesses adhere to the government's regulations.
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Health Care Reform Roundtable
As reported in the pages of In Business magazine.
A lot has happened since our 2009 Health Care Roundtable, most notably the passage of a sweeping national health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It has everything from higher taxes for upper income individuals, to subsidies for people who have been unable to afford coverage, to individual coverage mandates, to tax credits for small businesses. After passage, the law remains controversial. Its backers say it provides long overdue access to health care insurance to millions who lacked it, improves health care quality, and bends the cost curve downward. Its detractors say, among other things, that it will remove care decisions from the purview of patients and doctors, while bending the cost curve upward for both consumers and small businesses. IB convened a panel of area health care executives to get their perspectives on the potential impacts of this landmark law on their organizations and on small businesses that want to offer health care insurance to their employees, and do so affordably.
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The evidence is in ...
As reported in the pages of In Business magazine.
The controversial health reform bill may have its flaws, but it will provide more funding for evidence-based projects that have proven value in terms of quality and cost.
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Health Care Calculation for Businesses: Coverage Versus Paying the Penalty
Large and mid-sized businesses have some calculating to do regarding the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal health care law, but that calculation will not be entirely monetary, according to Dr. Craig Samitt.
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