Arguments on the sweeping health care reform measure will begin this week
By Dan Kelly
Reading Eagle
Whether Americans can be compelled by the government to obtain health insurance may be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
Arguments on one of the key provisions of the federal health care reform law, the individual mandate, will be heard by the high court over three days later this month.
Meanwhile, Berks County business owners and human resource executives are attending seminars and reading regulations as they gird for the rollout of the law, knowing full well all or part of the plan could be overturned before it ever takes effect.
?We?re continually reviewing what?s coming out of Washington,? said Mark Thomas, vice president for human resources at Reading Hospital, the county?s largest employer. ?Things are still a little vague.?
And the hospital has to look at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from the consumer and provider standpoints.
?As a health care provider we?re concerned about the impact on reimbursements, access to care,? Thomas said. ?There are going to be a lot more people (an estimated 32 million) who will become eligible for coverage.?
Since it became law in 2010, Thomas said, the Affordable Care Act has been a continous learning process.
?I?m going to a workshop on it this week,? Thomas said. ?I?m not sitting here doing nothing, but I don?t want to overreact either.?
Beginning in 2014, employers who provide health insurance for their employees will receive up to 50 percent in tax credits for the amount they spend on medical insurance.
Employers who don?t provide health care coverage will have to pay a fine for every employee they don?t cover. Will Berks County business owners buy the insurance, or would it be cheaper to pay the fine?
The Obama administration stated that elements of the plan already in place require insurance companies to cover preventive care that had required a fee or co-pay. Last year, for example, 235,820 Pennsylvanians saved $156 million in services they had to pay for in 2010.
Detractors of the sweeping federal law, including the attorneys general of 26 states and several federal appellate courts, have asked the Supreme Court to rule the law unconstitutional. Other appellate court rulings have upheld the law.
Robert McDonough, vice president for human resources at Redner?s Warehouse Markets, said he has been watching developments in the national health care plan, but the company hasn?t taken any steps to change its employment practices to date. He said the feature of the Affordable Care Act that concerns employers is a requirement to provide health care coverage to any employee who works an average of 30 hours per week in any month of the preceding year. If the employer does not provide health insurance, it faces a fine.
?Some of the HR people that I have spoken to have indicated it would probably be less expensive to pay a fine of $2,000 or $3,000 than provide health coverage that might cost five times that,? McDonough said. ?It would just make more sense to pay the fine.?
McDonough said he thinks the administration would have to increase the fines or make other changes; otherwise, employers would simply pay the fines. Uninsured individuals then would be assigned to a government-funded health care exchange. However, if the fines don?t cover the cost of providing health coverage, the government would lose money.
?The question then becomes: Where are they getting the money, and who ends up paying the difference for these folks?? McDonough asked.
Redner?s provides full health care coverage to its full-time employees who work at least 40 hours per week.
If the company in 2014 is compelled to provide health insurance for employees working 30 hours a week, it might then make more sense to hire two employees to work 20 hours per week to avoid the insurance requirement, McDonough said.
Then again, the definition of an employee, including the minimum number of hours to qualify for insurance, could change between now and 2014.
?As of today, we?ve made no changes,? McDonough said.
Contact Dan Kelly: 610-371-5040 or dkelly@readingeagle.com.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has put together lists of facts designed to help business owners better understand the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Here are a few:
If you have up to 25 employees with average wages below $50,000, and provide health insurance, you may qualify for a small-business tax credit of up to 35 percent
Employers that provide health insurance to retirees ages 55-64 now can get financial help through the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program.
Starting in 2014, the small-business tax credit goes up to 50 percent.
In 2014, small businesses can shop for lower-priced plans in an Affordable Insurance Exchange, which will offer all Americans the same insurance coverages available to members of Congress.
Employers with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from fines if their employees get tax credits through an exchange.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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