Under the Affordable Care Act, the Federal government, State governments, insurers, employers, and individuals are given shared responsibility to reform and improve the availability, quality, and affordability of health insurance coverage in the United States. Starting in 2014, the individual shared responsibility provision calls for each individual to have basic health insurance coverage (known as […]
by Julie Campbell Research has shown that the overall wellbeing of eyes is improved with additional coverage. The results of recent research have now been released, and they have revealed that adults who do not have vision coverage as a part of their health insurance may suffer irreparable damage to their eyesight. The study argues […]
If you’ve been following along with our PPACA-timelines you’ve seen on the 2013 Timeline the blurb that Employer/Plan Sponsors are required to “Provide employees with HHS information notices about 2014 exchanges and subsidies.” You may also recall that this was supposed to be accomplished by March 1st of this year. Well, the DOL is not […]
If you want to see 10 pages of health reform in a 1 page timeline (well, 1 page for Employers and 1 page for Employees) then please visit our website (www.apbenefitadvisors.com/news). But, if you are looking for details specific to just a certain year or plan, then you can’t do better than this implementation timeline […]
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released some long-awaited (and long over-due) final regulations under HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). The release updated various HIPAA requirements including privacy, security, enforcement and breach notification. Employers, Plan Sponsors as well as Covered Entities, will likely require a great deal of time to […]
Chris Anderson, www.healthcarefinancenews.com As many as 31 million Americans now receive healthcare through an accountable care organization (ACO) according to a recent report from industry consulting company Oliver Wyman. The report “The ACO Surprise” contends that while many believe that ACOs have had little impact on the market to date, the sheer numbers of patients getting […]
HHS: How to Verify Exchange Subsidy Eligibility HHS (the Department of Health and Human Services) issued a proposed rule outlining the processes they and state regulators will use to verify individuals’ eligibility for federal premium subsidies to purchase health insurance through public exchanges. In order to qualify for tax credits to buy health coverage through […]
The last few months have seen a number of legislative and regulatory changes in the healthcare sector. We make it a priority here on the AP Benefit Advisors blog to cover such issues, in detail, without bias, and in a timely manner. Here are a few of the big news items from the last few […]
The IRS released the latest versions of Publications 502 and 503 for use in preparing 2012 tax returns. Publication 502 (Medical & Dental Expenses) describes what medical expenses are deductible by taxpayers on their 2012 federal income tax returns. Under Code § 213(a), a taxpayer may claim a deduction for certain unreimbursed medical expenses to […]
Starting on January 1, 2014, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires all health insurance policies sold in the individual market and to small employers to cover minimum Essential Health Benefits (EHB), which include items and services within at least 10 categories of benefits; no cost-sharing for preventive care; no annual or lifetime limits on coverage; […]
