What now? Q&A about latest snag in health care law
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 11:27 am, Thursday, July 4, 2013
The latest hitch gives employers an additional year before they must offer medical coverage to their workers or pay a fine. [...] is it a significant setback for a law already beset by court challenges, repeal votes and a rush of deadlines for making health insurance available to nearly all Americans next year? Obama administration officials say they listened to businesses that complained they needed to figure out how to comply with complicated new rules written since the plan became law. The law passed in 2010 required employers with more than 50 employees working 30 or more hours a week to offer them suitable health coverage or pay a fine. The employer mandate was set to take effect at the start of a congressional election year, intensifying the focus on one of the Republicans' favorite campaign issues. Postponing the requirement should mean fewer ads featuring business owners saying they're drowning under health care mandates. When the employer mandate does take effect, some smallish companies have threatened to lay off workers or cut back their hours to stay under the 50-employee threshold. The law doesn't change the January 2014 deadline for individuals to get insurance or the tax credits in the law to help them pay for it. The penalties are designed more to discourage businesses from dropping their existing health plans than to encourage them to start new ones. [...] these employees can buy their own insurance through the new health care exchanges being set up under the law. [...] the postponement doesn't affect the heart of the law — the requirement that individuals get insurance, and the subsidies to help them pay for it. Medicaid changes in the health care law designed to help some 15 million low-income people are being rejected by many states with Republican leaders. Medicaid already covers more than 60 million people, including many elderly nursing home residents, severely disabled people of any age and many low-income children and their mothers. Reported by SeattlePI.com 10 hours ago.
Associated Press
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated 11:27 am, Thursday, July 4, 2013
The latest hitch gives employers an additional year before they must offer medical coverage to their workers or pay a fine. [...] is it a significant setback for a law already beset by court challenges, repeal votes and a rush of deadlines for making health insurance available to nearly all Americans next year? Obama administration officials say they listened to businesses that complained they needed to figure out how to comply with complicated new rules written since the plan became law. The law passed in 2010 required employers with more than 50 employees working 30 or more hours a week to offer them suitable health coverage or pay a fine. The employer mandate was set to take effect at the start of a congressional election year, intensifying the focus on one of the Republicans' favorite campaign issues. Postponing the requirement should mean fewer ads featuring business owners saying they're drowning under health care mandates. When the employer mandate does take effect, some smallish companies have threatened to lay off workers or cut back their hours to stay under the 50-employee threshold. The law doesn't change the January 2014 deadline for individuals to get insurance or the tax credits in the law to help them pay for it. The penalties are designed more to discourage businesses from dropping their existing health plans than to encourage them to start new ones. [...] these employees can buy their own insurance through the new health care exchanges being set up under the law. [...] the postponement doesn't affect the heart of the law — the requirement that individuals get insurance, and the subsidies to help them pay for it. Medicaid changes in the health care law designed to help some 15 million low-income people are being rejected by many states with Republican leaders. Medicaid already covers more than 60 million people, including many elderly nursing home residents, severely disabled people of any age and many low-income children and their mothers. Reported by SeattlePI.com 10 hours ago.