Obamacare Employer Mandate Delayed One Year
In a surprise move by the Obama Administration a crucial part of the law was delayed. The law requires Employers with more than 50 employees to provide health insurance for their workers. They have now delayed that until January 1, 2015. This brings many questions. The Administration says it is too much for the companies to do in 6 months since the final regulations were just released. Could it also be a political move?? The law remains highly unpopular and with the 2014 mid-term elections ahead, could that be the reason, to delay??
Could it be the funding as the law is costing us more that we were told originally? Could it be that they are now acknowledging that is bad policy. Maybe they are searching for something to put in its place. I guess we will not know on this one for another year.
I personally always stick on this topic to my original line of thinking. In the great depression, when there was a wage freeze, health insurance became a perk. They could not pay you more money, so they gave you insurance to entice you to work there. Not a bad strategy. However, I go back to why is it your company's job to insure you? They do not pay for your homeowners insurance or your auto insurance (unless you have a company car). This is why I have always believed that group health insurance was a bad idea, for small businesses. The cost is high and the benefits may not be enough to justify the premium.
Some other questions I cannot help but wonder... Is this incentive to companies to drop health insurance and send their employees into an insurance exchange?? Will some carriers go to higher deductible health plans this year so we can save money this year while they wait for next year??
This is one of several examples, where things have broken down and we have not even implemented the law completely yet. The other are...
The Class Act-In October of 2011, HHS secretary state the law was not financially viable. This also accounts for about 40% of the laws deficit reduction.
Federal Insurance Exchanges- It was hoped that each state would set up their own exchange and the Federal Government would help finance the cost. Only 17 states set an exchange, so the Feds have to fully fund to run the other 33 states.
Employer Mandate- discussed throughout this article.
Child Only Plans- Many carriers stopped selling child only plans when the law stated you could not deny children coverage. ( They will not deny children on a parents policy)
Pre-Existing Condition Health Insurance Plan- (PCIP)-
The $5 billion Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan (PCIP) offered health coverage to sick patients waiting for full implementation of ObamaCare. But the program initially failed to enroll as many people as expected, and was plagued by high costs. In February, HHS stopped accepting new applicants into the program to ensure it would have enough money to cover the people already enrolled.
"Running out of money before the end of the year is something we're trying to avoid," said Gary Cohen, director of the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, in congressional testimony.
Is this the first step of the entire law falling apart??
I guess only time will tell.
Could it be the funding as the law is costing us more that we were told originally? Could it be that they are now acknowledging that is bad policy. Maybe they are searching for something to put in its place. I guess we will not know on this one for another year.
I personally always stick on this topic to my original line of thinking. In the great depression, when there was a wage freeze, health insurance became a perk. They could not pay you more money, so they gave you insurance to entice you to work there. Not a bad strategy. However, I go back to why is it your company's job to insure you? They do not pay for your homeowners insurance or your auto insurance (unless you have a company car). This is why I have always believed that group health insurance was a bad idea, for small businesses. The cost is high and the benefits may not be enough to justify the premium.
Some other questions I cannot help but wonder... Is this incentive to companies to drop health insurance and send their employees into an insurance exchange?? Will some carriers go to higher deductible health plans this year so we can save money this year while they wait for next year??
This is one of several examples, where things have broken down and we have not even implemented the law completely yet. The other are...
The Class Act-In October of 2011, HHS secretary state the law was not financially viable. This also accounts for about 40% of the laws deficit reduction.
Federal Insurance Exchanges- It was hoped that each state would set up their own exchange and the Federal Government would help finance the cost. Only 17 states set an exchange, so the Feds have to fully fund to run the other 33 states.
Employer Mandate- discussed throughout this article.
Child Only Plans- Many carriers stopped selling child only plans when the law stated you could not deny children coverage. ( They will not deny children on a parents policy)
Pre-Existing Condition Health Insurance Plan- (PCIP)-
The $5 billion Pre-Existing Conditions Insurance Plan (PCIP) offered health coverage to sick patients waiting for full implementation of ObamaCare. But the program initially failed to enroll as many people as expected, and was plagued by high costs. In February, HHS stopped accepting new applicants into the program to ensure it would have enough money to cover the people already enrolled.
"Running out of money before the end of the year is something we're trying to avoid," said Gary Cohen, director of the federal Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, in congressional testimony.
Is this the first step of the entire law falling apart??
I guess only time will tell.
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