What do businesses need to know about health care reform?
The law will require qualified health plans to provide, at a minimum, coverage without cost sharing for preventive services recommended by the Preventive Services Task Force. These include recommended immunizations, preventive care for infants, children and adolescents, and additional preventive care and screening for women.
Employers will also be faced with the decision to keep their current health plan in place (a grandfathered plan) or choose to offer a qualified health plan that could cost more. If a new qualified plan is offered, it must comply with all new insurance market reforms, including the new IRS nondiscrimination rules. An employer may also choose to terminate coverage.
The new law will not affect an employer’s ability to offer voluntary worksite benefits such as accident, disability, vision or dental plans, as well as cancer and hospital indemnity insurance.
Another provision includes limits of $2,500 on health flexible spending accounts. Anything above this amount will now be taxable as gross income.
Why should businesses consider implementing wellness or preventive initiatives?
The reasons are numerous. Employers have the opportunity to educate and inform workers of the importance of wellness, thus driving both overall employee health and productivity while keeping high medical costs at bay. Productivity losses related to personal and family health problems cost employers $1,685 per employee per year. Promoting wellness can help prevent those illnesses and injuries by encouraging proactive health practices.
Healthier employees can also create a competitive advantage for an employer because they are absent from work less often. And finally, healthy employees are more productive, which helps the business’s bottom line.
How does health care reform help businesses implement wellness or prevention programs?
Provisions in the new health care reform will accelerate the evolution of health promotion. The bill will develop a national health promotion plan, enhance health promotion research and provide technical assistance to enhance evaluation of workplace health promotion programs. And grants to pay a portion of the cost of a comprehensive workplace wellness program will be available to small employers that may not have had the resources to implement programs in the past.
As mentioned earlier, employers will be able to offer premium reductions of up to 30 percent to employees who meet certain health criteria. The law allows employers to establish greater accountability among their employees.
While there is still much debate regarding health care reform, there is no question that it presents an opportunity to change the paradigm. We have the opportunity to give our citizens access to a 21st century health care system — one that is focused on preventing obesity and disease, and that helps us live healthy, active, productive lives.
Sally Stephens is president of Spectrum Health Systems. Reach her at (317) 573-7600 or [email protected].