Health Reform Changes On The Back Burner, Focus Now Shifts to Compliance

  • On August 10, 2017
Congress is in recess until September 5th and our federal legislators are shifting efforts to repeal and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) to a back burner in favor of other efforts, such as comprehensive tax reform.  While individual opinions about Congress’s inability to move forward on ACA reform may vary, for […]
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Health Reform Update: What Can We Expect Now?

  • On July 31, 2017
The latest Congressional efforts to repeal and replace parts of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) failed again last week when the Senate voted 51-49 to reject a measure dubbed the “skinny repeal” bill.  The breakdown of the latest reform attempt not only shows the deep divide among our lawmakers, but it also […]
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Senate Vote Greenlights AHCA Debate

  • On July 26, 2017
On July 25, 2017, members of the U.S. Senate voted 50-50 to open up the American Health Care Act (AHCA) for debate and amendments in the Senate, with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of the measure. The AHCA is the bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) […]
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Senate Health Care Reform Effort: Round Two

  • On July 14, 2017
  Congress is still working on repealing and replacing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Last month, the Senate Republican leadership had to postpone action on the Better Care Reconciliation Act due to a lack of consensus.  Now that the Senators are back from celebrating the 4th of July, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell […]
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Overview of “The Better Care Reconciliation Act”

  • On June 29, 2017
Throughout the month of June, Kistler Tiffany Benefits’ Director of Compliance Services, Scott Wham, J.D., hosted a series of Town Hall meetings for KTB clients. The meetings predominantly focused on the current state of health care reform in light of the proposals presented by congressional Republicans. Due to popular demand, Scott has recorded a comprehensive […]
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Health Reform Moves to the Senate

  • On May 12, 2017
Now that the United States House of Representatives has passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), action on repealing, replacing or repairing the current health reform law has moved to the United States Senate.  Instead of just making changes to the House-passed legislation, the leadership of the upper chamber has made it clear that they […]
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Essential Health Benefits Explained

  • On April 14, 2017
As Congress and President Trump continue efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the law’s mandate that some health plans cover essential health benefits (EHBs) has become a focal point of health reform negotiations. Proponents of eliminating or changing EHBs argue they are artificially driving up the cost of private health insurance […]
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Health Reform Change May Have Slowed Down, but It Has Not Stopped

  • On March 27, 2017
Last week, President Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress halted their immediate efforts to change the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  While we now know that sweeping health policy changes like the elimination of the employer mandate will not occur in the near future, we are hearing that other important health policy actions are still underway.  As […]
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New SBC Template and Glossary Must Be Used Beginning April 1, 2017

  • On March 17, 2017
One ACA requirement for health insurers and employer-sponsored group benefit plans that remains effective is the requirement to provide enrollees and applicants with a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) and a uniform glossary of common health plan terms.  The SBC is a short document that explains all of a health plan’s basic coverage terms […]
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Congress and the Trump Administration Begin Work on Federal Health Reform Change

  • On March 17, 2017
Formal work on national health care reform is well underway now that the congressional leadership of the Republican Party has released draft legislation to replace parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  Health policy ideas are flying around Washington, DC, and in the news there is a tremendous amount of chatter and speculation about what […]
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House GOP Releases First Draft of Health Reform Repeal/Replace Measure

  • On March 7, 2017
On Monday evening, March 6, 2017 the House Republican leadership unveiled its first official version of legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.  Known as the American Health Care Act, the House Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce Committees will begin their work on “marking up” the legislation this week. See the […]
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Health Reform Changes Are A Hot Topic, But No Action Items Yet

  • On February 17, 2017
While there is lots of talk in Washington, D.C. these days about potential repeal, replacement, and/or rebuilding of the health reform law, so far there has been no action that would actually change any current requirements for employer group benefit plans. In fact, employer plans need to be very mindful of some key looming compliance […]
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President Trump Signs Executive Order on Health Reform

  • On January 23, 2017
On Friday evening, as one of his first acts as President, Donald Trump signed an executive order concerning his Administration’s intentions with regard to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).   The one-page order does not change any existing provisions of the law or its related regulations, or suspend any current requirements for individuals, employers or other […]
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Health Reform Legislative and Regulatory Changes on the Horizon

  • On January 13, 2017
The 115th Congress has been sworn in and they have already taken some initial action to change the health care landscape.  On Tuesday, January 3, Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee formally started the process by introducing a resolution that would allow for the repeal of sections of the Affordable Care […]
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New Final Regulations to Impact Employer-Sponsored Health Benefit Plans

  • On January 13, 2017
In the last few weeks, the Obama Administration issued a flurry of new final regulations, FAQs, and other guidance that will impact employer-sponsored health plans.  Since all of these requirements and guidance will be both finalized and effective before January 20 (even the ones that will impact the 2018 plan year), they cannot be simply […]
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IRS Partially Extends Employer Reporting Deadlines

  • On November 21, 2016
Will Keep Good Faith Compliance Standard for 2016 Reporting Done in 2017 On Friday, November 18, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2016-70 which extends the due date for furnishing to individuals the 2016 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, and the 2016 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, from January 31, 2017, to March […]
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The Future of the Health Care Reform

  • On November 15, 2016
As President-Elect Donald Trump’s administration begins to take form, so does the new health policy agenda.  A new website has gone live for the Trump presidential transition team, and on it the President-Elect promises to replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a new plan that will revive high-risk pools for people with expensive […]
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Nondiscrimination in Health Program Rules Will Impact Certain 2017 Benefit Plans

  • On November 11, 2016
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) regarding nondiscrimination in federally funded health programs. Effective the first day of plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2017, the final rule: Prohibits discrimination in health care on the basis of race, color, […]
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Election Results Mean Both Change and Consistency Regarding Employee Benefits

  • On November 11, 2016
Final Election Day results are in and one thing is very clear–change was the top priority of American voters.  It is our goal at Kistler Tiffany Benefits to keep our clients fully engaged and informed about any new market, legislative, or regulatory changes that may be ahead. We will also continue working in Washington with […]
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