If your office computer is stolen in a burglary, or if your patients’ records are hacked by a dishonest employee of your cloud service provider, can you afford a $400,000 fine?
Day: May 22, 2013
Subsidy Calculator
This tool illustrates health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own in new health insurance exchanges (or “Marketplaces”) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Beginning in October 2013, middle-income people under age 65, who are not eligible for coverage through their employer, Medicaid, or Medicare, can apply for tax credit subsidies available through state-based exchanges.
UnitedHealthCare Announces Pricing Comparison Tool
“The online and mobile service is more precise than cost estimation tools that may rely only on historical claims data or provide estimates based on geographic average. myHealthcare Cost Estimator draws on the company’s actual contracted rates with physicians, hospitals, clinics and other health care providers, giving consumers more accurate pricing information.”
Editor’s Note: We bet that providers who sign provider agreements with UHC are not going to like their contracted fees exposed to the public.
Continue reading UnitedHealthCare Announces Pricing Comparison Tool
The “Strong” Penalty VS The “Weak” Penalty
“Last week, I discussed how Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates dramatically expand the power of the Internal Revenue Service. In that piece, I highlighted the fact that the employer mandate gives employers “an incentive to offer coverage that is either ‘unaffordable’ according to Obamacare or that fails to meet the law’s ‘minimum essential requirements.’” Let’s delve into that further, as this aspect of Obamacare is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the way that employers offer health coverage in the future.”
Employer Mandate Requires Employee Notification By October 1
On May 8, 2013, the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Technical Release No. 2013-02 (“Release”) providing important guidance under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (“Affordable Care Act”), with regard to the requirement that employers provide notices to their employees of the existence of the Health Insurance Marketplace (“Marketplace”), previously referred to as the “Exchange.”
Continue reading Employer Mandate Requires Employee Notification By October 1