DO ELECTION RESULTS SIGNAL END OF OBAMACARE?

Highly respected industry expert Bob Laszewski provides an ongoing review of health care policy activity and the health insurance marketplace. We have followed his takes on healthcare reform for some time and have always found them to insightful, balanced, realistic...

Using An Old Opening Joke Line To Illustrate Costs In Healthcare

We have all heard jokes that begin with “Three guys walk into a bar….” I thought it might make sense to use that model to explain why “referenced-based pricing” and general consumer awareness in healthcare are important to consider. Here...

ARE YOU WONDERING ABOUT THE “CONTROLLED GROUP” QUESTION? HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The “Controlled Group” question is popping up for many employers with much greater frequency as part of various and sundry regulatory applications, audits, surveys, reporting requirements and underwriting questionnaires. Netting it out in layman’s terms — at...

THE LAW OF DISPROPORTIONATE COSTS: SMALL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES ACCOUNT FOR LION’S SHARE OF GROUP HEALTH PLAN MEDICAL COSTS

There’s plenty of cost related analytics available to support the disproportionate cost premise that medical expenses are highly concentrated among a very small proportion of enrolled employees.  These highlights, for example, from a Agency for Healthcare Research and...

EMPLOYER REIMBURSEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL HEALTHPLAN PREMIUMS REMAINS A BANNED PRACTICE UNDER ACA

While this was more of a hot topic when the full monty of healthcare reform was implemented back in 2014, some employers perhaps unaware of the turmoil in the individual marketplace still ask about reimbursing employees for individual health insurance policies. The...