The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as Health Care Reform, has been the law of the land since last March, but questions and debate continue to dominate the political landscape.
The House approved legislation to repeal Health Care Reform law on January 19. Republicans failed to muster enough votes to repeal the law in the Senate, however. The Senate did vote to repeal a piece of the health care overhaul, rolling back a new tax reporting requirement that’s been unpopular with business owners. The amendment to repeal the Form 1099 reporting requirement passed by an 81-17 margin on February 2 with broad bipartisan support.
On January 31, Florida District Judge Roger Vinson concluded that the individual mandate, the federal requirement to purchase government-prescribed health insurance, violates the Constitution. He further ruled that since the individual mandate is central to the law, it is not severable from the whole, and therefore the whole law is unconstitutional.
What’s Next for Health Care Reform?
Judge Vinson did not grant a request by the plaintiffs to suspend the Health Care Reform law pending further appeals, so his ruling is unlikely to delay its ongoing implementation by the Obama Administration.
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has introduced two bills to repeal the two main pillars of the health care reform law – the individual mandate and the employer mandate. Further, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-Minnesota) are expected to file bills that would eliminate two provisions that affect medical flexible spending accounts (FSAs): the prohibition on using FSAs to pay for over-the-counter medications and the $2,500 annual limit on contributions to FSAs.
What Does This Uncertainty Mean for Your Health Plan?
The Obama administration has publicly stated that the Florida Court’s ruling is wrong, will be appealed and will not delay implementation of PPACA. Since Judge Vinson’s ruling soon will be under appeal, and considering the uncertainty and risks of noncompliance, the ruling has not had any immediate impact on employers sponsoring health plans and their participants.
ASR Health Benefits will continue to provide updates on PPACA requirements, from data aggregation services under the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program to technical support for changes in debit card rules (see article on page 2) to notifying you of major legislative updates. As always, please feel free to contact us for more information on the Health Care Reform law or help with compliance issues facing your plan. You may also visit our Website at www.asrhealthbenefits.com to consult our comprehensive Health Care Reform compliance summary.