Health Reform Update
Several ACA taxes which begin in 2014 are now being passed on to premiums, sixty-one thousand apply for health insurance in Illinois, but new enrollments have few young people, new guidance released for plan designs, and higher deductibles are leaving many underinsured by new plans.ACA Taxes Increase Starting in 2014, Obamacare begins taxing insurance companies — who contend a good chunk of these costs will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. The new levies include a multibillion-dollar assessment on insurance companies based on their market share, a fee that will be used to compensate insurers who take on the most costly policyholders and a penalty for individuals who decide to remain uninsured.
Sixty-One Thousand Apply for Health Insurance in Illinois in December The Illinois enrollments are up nearly ninefold from November, when little more than 7,000 selected policies, according to federal data released Monday. Nationwide, nearly 2.2 million selected a plan, with the vast majority coming in December.
Guidance on Cost-Sharing Limits, Wellness, and Mental Health Parity in New ACA FAQs On January 9, 2014 the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued an 18th set of frequently asked questions about the Affordable Care Act, including issues raised by that law’s intersection with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”), as well as a grab-bag of other issues.
Older Pool of Health Care Enrollees Stirs Fears on Costs WASHINGTON — People signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s federal and state marketplaces tend to be older and potentially less healthy, officials said Monday, a demographic mix that could threaten the law’s economic underpinnings and cause premiums to rise in the future if the pattern persists.
High Deductible Health Law Plans Leave Some ‘Underinsured’ For working people making modest wages and struggling with high medical bills from chronic disease, President Barack Obama’s health care plan sounds like long-awaited relief. But the promise could go unfulfilled.
