What steps can employers take now to have a say in how the regulations shape up?
First, they need to learn about the law and how it’s going to affect them. They need to focus their questions, and write to their congressman with ideas and examples of the impact of the new requirements. It’s also a good idea to work with a lawyer or other representative to get their voice heard before the regulations are written. For the agencies who are writing the regulations, there is no way to understand the complexities of these things without working with people on the front line. Employers need to be part of the input from which the initial proposed regulations are going to emerge.
What can employers do to protect their current health plans?
If a company has a plan it likes, it needs to take a good look at it. If you already have a plan, you are grandfathered in, so it keeps you out from under the bureaucracy. That’s a very desirable position, and if you have it, you should do everything you can to maintain it. But if you make changes to your plan, you can’t maintain that grandfathered status. There are certain things you’ll have to change to comply with the new law. So does that count as a change? You will certainly want to argue that the regulation answers that question with a clear ‘no.’ Many companies may not want to change the content of their plan, but they may want to change their carrier. Will that be perceived as no change to the plan? That is unknown. These are areas on which you should raise your voice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and thereafter consult a professional who can advise you when the proposed rules are available for comment.
Employers should be very conscious of what they have now and make sure they don’t get caught in a plan change that could cost them grandfathered status. That could mean higher premiums. The more you know, the more you can make minor adjustments without triggering out of grandfathered status into the highly regulated plan status that’s going to be characteristic of the exchange plans.
Nancy L. Johnson is a former U.S. Congresswoman and now a senior public policy advisor at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC in Washington, D.C. Reach her at (202) 508-3432 or [email protected].
