Affordable Care Act

• The US Supreme Court will take up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) again, and hear the legal dispute in King v Burwell, which challenges the financial resources available to enrollees on the federal insurance exchanges. At issue in this case is whether the precise language in the ACA makes subsidies available to all people in all states or only in those states run by their own health insurance exchanges.  Many Democratic-led states chose to set up their own exchanges; but Republican-led states, in a demonstration of their opposition, let the federal government do so instead. More than 4 million people receive subsidies currently, which the Obama administration contends are essential to the ACA by making insurance more affordable for low- and middle-income families. Without subsidies, health reform will begin to fall apart.  The US Supreme Court will likely rule on this issue by late June 2015. 

• Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released an updated collection of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) providing answers for consumers, and the navigators and brokers who assist them, as the Nov. 15 start date nears for the ACA's second open enrollment period. Read more.
  
  
• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of the Treasury (IRS) have announced Notice 2014-69 that group health insurance plans that do not cover in-patient hospitalization services and or substantial physician services will not be found to be compliant with the ACA. Read more.  
  
  
• ​Large employers must report information on health care coverage and minimum essential coverage.  Download model forms for Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns and Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage.
  
  
• Employers cannot provide cash contributions to their employees to help with Exchange Plans.  See the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Labor clarifications.​

AHCA is pleased to announce the new AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions, LLC. Our new insurance agency is dedicated to providing members with ACA compliant insurance solutions for both fully insured and self-insured groups of any size. Insurance Solutions is a full service insurance agency exclusive to AHCA Members. AHCA Insurance Solutions provides members with a full array of competitive insurance products. Contact us today to see what the AHCA/NCAL Insurance Solutions, LLC can do to meet your company’s insurance needs. For more information, contact AHCAinsurancesolutions@ahca.org

Review this timeline​ to learn about the provisions of the Affordable Care Act that have or that will be implemented.