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Tag: healthcare law

After Republican Sweep, Uncertainty Over ACA

As Kentucky prepares for the second year of Obamacare sign-ups, there’s little of the public hoopla that surrounded last year’s historic launch in a state widely seen as a national model for its smooth roll out.

But after the Republican sweep of Congress, there’s new uncertainty about the Affordable Care Act’s future — with the state’s newly re-elected senator, soon-to-be Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying he plans to target elements of the law.

Despite campaign calls to tear out the ACA “root and branch,” a repeal is highly unlikely given President Obama’s veto power, experts said. But McConnell said he may seek to eliminate both a tax on medical devices and the “individual mandate,” which requires most Americans to carry insurance and penalizes them if they don’t.

“We’ll be addressing (the ACA) in a variety of ways,” McConnell said at a post-election news conference in Louisville.

Read the full report here.

Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.

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Gibbs Predicts Employer Mandate Will Be Killed

A former longtime advisor to President Barack Obama predicted Wednesday that the employer mandate — a key piece of Obamacare — will not survive.

It was among several predictions Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary, had for the future of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in a speech at the 2014 Benefits Selling Expo.

“I don’t think the employer mandate will go into effect. It’s a small part of the law. I think it will be one of the first things to go,” he said to a notably surprised audience.

The employer mandate has been delayed twice, he noted. The vast majority of employers with 100 or more employees offer health insurance, and there aren’t many employers who fall into the mandate window, he said.

Killing the employer mandate would be one way to improve the law — and there are a handful of other “common sense” improvements needed as well, he said.

Read the full report here.

Contact Steven Cosby with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.