The Obama administration released a compromise plan February 1 on how contraception is covered under the healthcare reform law, but it’s not clear whether foes of the original requirement will approve.

Under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, contraception is included as a free preventive service. The original rule exempted religious groups that employ mostly people of their own faith, but groups such as religious universities and Catholic hospitals weren’t included in the exemption.

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On November 20, the Obama administration announced it is moving forward with certain provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including banning insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions. The administration issued the following:

• A proposed rule that, beginning in 2014, prohibits health insurance companies from discriminating against individuals because of a preexisting or chronic condition. Under the rule, insurance companies would be allowed to vary premiums within limits based only on age, tobacco use, family size, and geography. Health insurance companies would be prohibited from denying coverage to a person because of a preexisting condition or from charging higher premiums to certain enrollees because of their  current  or past health problems, gender, occupation, and small employer size or industry.

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The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires states to establish health insurance exchanges to provide individuals and small employers with access to affordable insurance coverage beginning January 1, 2014. States have the flexibility to design and operate exchanges that best meet their needs while complying with the ACA’s statutory and regulatory standards. A state that chooses to establish its own exchange or participate in a partnership model must complete and submit an exchange blueprint that documents how it will meet all the legal and operational standards. A state also must demonstrate operational readiness to carry out exchange activities as part of its exchange blueprint.

Decisions on whether to establish a state exchange and blueprint submissions are due to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by November 16, 2012. Although states still must inform the HHS if they plan to establish an exchange by that date, the agency has extended the date for submitting blueprints to December 14, 2012. If those deadlines aren’t met, the HHS will implement a federally facilitated exchange for the states and perform exchange activities.

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By Jacqueline R. Scott, David S. Fortney, and Cynthia Ozger-Pascu
Fortney & Scott, LLC

In a historical ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the significant healthcare reform provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), enacted by Congress in 2010 in a sharply divided vote along partisan political lines and subsequently challenged on constitutional grounds by 26 states and employer representatives. On June 28, the Court issued an extensive decision, which included — to the surprise of many Court watchers — a majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts and the four liberal justices, along with concurring opinions and dissents by other justices.

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By Jason Lacey
Foulston Siefkin LLP

The legal underpinnings of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on healthcare reform are complex, but the bottom line is very clear for employers: Nothing has changed. The law that went into effect March 23, 2010 (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA), and has been in effect ever since, remains wholly intact.

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The U.S. Supreme Court held the attention of the nation (and employers) on Thursday, June 28, when it released its highly anticipated decision on the healthcare reform law (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) enacted in March 2010. In a decision that surprised many analysts, the Court upheld the law in a 5-4 opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts.

So what did the Court rule, and what does its decision mean for employers going forward?

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By Douglas R. Chamberlain
Sulloway & Hollis, P.L.L.C.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision on healthcare reform (also known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) will be dissected and argued about for many years to come. The Court essentially upheld all the key elements of the healthcare reform law — most notably the so-called “individual mandate,” which will require that individuals purchase health insurance or else pay a penalty (or “tax”). There are two surprising elements to the Court’s decision: read more…

By Jessica Webb-Ayer

The wait is over: The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that the massive healthcare reform law (also known as the Affordable Care Act, or ACA) enacted in March 2010 is constitutional. So what happened, and what does this mean for employers?

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Employers have a new health care reform deadline to add to their calendars. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of the Treasury issued final regulations under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that are intended to help:

• individuals easily understand their health coverage and be able to pick their best coverage options; and
• employers determine what the best coverage option is for their businesses and their employees.

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Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would hear a challenge to the massive health care reform law (also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA) enacted in March 2010. The Court revealed how important it considers this case by scheduling five and a half hours of oral arguments, when it usually schedules only an hour for oral arguments.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from a decision by the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, the only appellate court to rule that any part of the PPACA is unconstitutional. In August, the Eleventh Circuit held 2-1 that the individual mandate, which would require most individuals to obtain health insurance or pay a fine, exceeded the power of the U.S. Congress under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to the majority opinion, “This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives.”

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