Small business fighting to keep the insurance they have

…the fallout and unintended consequences of ObamaCare continue...

In campaigning to pass health care overhaul earlier in the year, President Barack Obama promised Americans they would be able to keep the insurance they currently have under his plan. But that promise is beginning to fall short as new rules stemming from passage of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) put 1.4million workers at risk of losing their health coverage as early as this September.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius can help on this front by making an exception for “Limited Benefit Medical” (Mini-Med) plans. If not, these critical health plans may cease to exist for 1.4 million workers covered by this option.

Why? Under the annual dollar limit provisions of PPACA that govern group plans (taking effect for plan years beginning September 23, 2010) these health plans will not meet the new standards established by the law. (Beginning in 2014, annual dollar limits are fully prohibited under the new health care law.) The question is, will HHS Secretary Sebelius make an exception for these plans – at least as a temporary solution, or allow 1.4 million workers to immediately lose health coverage?

On May 28, SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis requesting that HHS quickly act to make an exception and allow these plans to stand.

As Kerrigan noted in her letter: “Small to mid-size employers use these affordable plans for full or part-time hourly employees, those who work on a seasonal basis or may be fulfilling a waiting period for an employer's regular health plan. While termed ‘limited,’ such benefit plans are coveted by those who use them because they affordably cover most medical issues. They serve an important purpose in the market, and without these plans many workers would not have access to health coverage.”

Removing the annual dollar limits from these plans will drive costs significantly higher for small to mid-size employers, which means most will be forced to drop health coverage all together for the workers covered by the limited-benefit plans. “It would be ironic indeed if 1.4 million workers lose health insurance as a result of a law that was intended to provide coverage to more Americans. But that will be the unintended consequence of PPACA unless HHS makes an exception for these plans, or clarifies the law,” wrote Kerrigan.

As of June 9, SBE Council has not received word back from HHS or DoL about its concerns.

The clock is ticking, and employers need to make decisions. Businesses have a sense of urgency in terms of moving to next steps to try to find alternative coverage or solutions for their employees, but the federal government remains dead silent on the issue. Quite frankly, we remain shocked that HHS is not acting more quickly to preserve health coverage for 1.4 million workers.

On another note, SBE Council recently launched PROTECT HSAs…and preserve health care choices, a project dedicated to making sure health savings accounts (HSAs) remain a viable health coverage option. PPACA threatens HSA viability, and SBE Council is working to make sure that the new regulations governing “acceptable coverage” and “medical loss ratios” do not destroy the affordable, flexible and popular HSA option. Please visit: www.protecthsas.org.