The Academy’s Health Solvency Work Group sent a comment letter June 11 to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ Capital Adequacy Task Force regarding potential changes to the current health risk-based capital covariance formula calculation.
Academy Senior Health Fellow Cori Uccello provided an actuarial perspective on health care reform implementation during Health Care Reform: Initial Checkup hosted by the American Enterprise Institute June 15 in Washington. A video of the event is available online.
Legislative and Regulatory Updates
The departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury issued interim final regulations on June 17 that would implement the rules for group health plans and health insurance coverage under the grandfathering provisions of the new health care reform laws. Those plans in existence as of March 23, 2010, are subject only to certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and are exempt from many others. The interim final regulations explain how a grandfathered plan could retain or lose its grandfathered status.
The U.S. Senate passed by unanimous voice vote on June 18 a 2.2 percent payment increase to Medicare physicians for six months. The Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act (H.R. 3962) would prevent a scheduled 21 percent cut to physicians who receive reimbursements from Medicare. The House passed the bill on June 24, and the president is expected to sign it into law.
President Obama announced new health insurance regulations on June 22 that would address provisions of PPACA that prohibit the exclusion of children from insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions, ban lifetime and annual limits in coverage, and prohibit insurance companies from ending coverage for patients who make mistakes on their insurance applications. The new interim final regulations will be published in the Federal Register on June 28.
In the News
The Academy’s Critical Issues in Health Reformpaper on the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act was cited in a column published on June 8 by the Washington Examiner. The actuaries wrote that actuarially sound premiums for the new long-term care program could range from $125 to $160 per month.
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