More Health Care Reform Learning

I attended a seminar on the Payment Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 yesterday. It was offered by our benefits provider The Healy Group and was very informative. If you have the opportunity to attend a seminar to help explain what's contained in the 2,400 page bill, I recommend it. Some things I learned:

• To keep health insurance coverage "as is" or "grandfathered" the coverage as of March 23, 2010 must be documented. In addition all changes to the plan after that date must also be documented. The reason is that there are several common changes that will cause a plan to lose "grandfathered" status like cutting or reducing benefits, significantly raising coinsurance, co-payments, deductibles, lowering employer contributions, and changing insurance carriers.
• For plan years after September 2010, insurers are no longer able to refuse or limit coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. Children up to age 26 will be allowed to stay on their parents' insurance plan.
• A new tax of 10% was added to tanning services starting July 2010.
• As of June 2010 a new high-risk pool for people with pre-existing conditions who haven't had insurance for at least 6 months was created.
• There is a small business tax credit available for small businesses.
• Starting in 2011, over the counter drugs like aspirin or claritin will no longer be reimburseable from an HSA/FSA/HRA account.
• In 2011, The excise tax on non-qualified distributions from an HSA increases from 10% to 20%.
• In 2011, Employers are required to report on Form W-2 the aggregate cost of health coverage provided to employees in 2011.