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QUESTION OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS

QUESTION OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS. JANUARY 17, 2012. Agenda. Health Care Reform Timeline Essential Health Benefits 2010 Requirements – Restricted Annual Limits – phased amounts until 2014 2014 Requirements W-2 Reporting: Update Top Priority 2012-2013 activities.

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QUESTION OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS

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  1. QUESTION OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS JANUARY 17, 2012

  2. Agenda • Health Care Reform Timeline • Essential Health Benefits • 2010 Requirements – Restricted Annual Limits – phased amounts until 2014 • 2014 Requirements • W-2 Reporting: Update • Top Priority 2012-2013 activities

  3. Health insurance exchanges • Individual coverage mandate • Financial assistance for exchange coverage of lower-income individuals • Medicaid expansion • HIPAA wellness limit • Employer shared responsibility • Additional reporting and disclosure • Dependent coverage to age 26 for any covered employee’s child2 • No annual dollar limits2 • No pre-existing condition limits2 • No waiting period over 90 days2 • Additional new standards for new or “non-grandfathered” health plans, including limited cost-sharing and deductibles • Health insurance industry fees begin • Dependent coverage to 26 (grandfathered plans may limit to children without access to other employer coverage, other than parent’s coverage)1 • No lifetime dollar limits1 • Restricted annual dollar limits, phased amounts until 20141 • No pre-existing condition limitations for enrollees up to age 191 • No rescissions1 • Additional standards for new or “non-grandfathered” health plans, including mandatory preventive care in network with no cost-sharing and non-discrimination provisions for insured plans3 • No health FSA/HRA/HSA reimbursement for non-prescribed drugs • Increased penalties for non-qualified HSA distributions • Income-based Medicare Part D premiums • Pharmaceutical importers and manufacturers’ fees start • Medicare, Medicare Advantage benefit and payment reforms to begin • Insurers subject to medical loss ratio rules Key elements of health reform for employers • Employers to distribute uniform summary of benefits and coverage (SBC) to participants3 • Employers to provide 60-day advance notice of material modifications for mid-year changes3 • Form W-2 reporting for health coverage (track in 2012 for W-2 form provided in early 2013)4 • Comparative effectiveness group health plan fees begin • Coverage for additional women's’ preventive care services begins (plan years on or after August 1, 2012) • Change in tax treatment for over-age dependent coverage • Accounting impact of change in Medicare retiree drug subsidy tax treatment • Early retiree medical reinsurance • Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” beneficiary rebate • Break time/private room for nursing moms 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2018 • $2,500 health FSA contribution cap (indexed) • Employers notify employees about exchanges • Medical device manufacturers’ fees start • Higher Medicare payroll tax on wages exceeding $200,000/ individual; $250,000/couples • Change in Medicare retiree drug subsidy tax treatment takes effect • Exchanges initial open enrollment period to begin • Auto enrollment likely to begin in 2014 • 40% excise tax on “high cost” or Cadillac coverage 1. Applies to all plans, including “grandfathered” plans, effective for plan years beginning on or after Sept. 23, 2010 (Jan. 1, 2011, for calendar year plans). 2. Applies to all plans, including grandfathered plans, effective for plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2014. 3. Delayed until regulations issued/date TBD 4. A temporary exemption applies to employers filing fewer than 250 Forms W-2.

  4. What are Essential Health Benefits? • Essential Health Benefits (EHBs) are part of the health care reform law’s initiatives to broaden affordable access to adequate health coverage • Under the law, EHBs must be equal to the scope of benefits provided under a “typical employer plan” and include at least 10 categories of items and services

  5. Essential Health Benefit Categories • Ambulatory patient services • Emergency services • Hospitalization • Maternity and newborn care • Mental health and substance abuse disorder benefits, including behavioral health treatment • Prescription drugs • Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices • Laboratory services • Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management • Pediatric services, including oral and vision care

  6. Restricted Dollar Limits on EHBs • With limited exceptions, most insured and self-insured employer group health plans – whether grandfathered or not – must comply with restrictions on imposing lifetime and annual dollar limits on EHBs, effective for plan years beginning on or after Sept. 23, 2010 • Employers plan cannot impose any lifetime dollar limit on covered EHBs • Before Jan. 1, 2014, annual dollar limits on covered EHBs may not be less than the amounts shown in the table below • For plans with plan years beginning between Sept. 23, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013, the $2 million minimum annual limit will apply for two plan years. No plan may impose an annual dollar limit on EHBs for plan years that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2014

  7. Summary - 2014 • Starting in 2014, nongrandfathered individual and small-group insured products offered outside of exchanges and qualified health plans (QHPs) offered on exchanges will have to cover EHBs • Although employer plans with more than 100 employees aren’t required to cover all EHBs, those plans still must comply with the health care reform law’s restrictions on applying lifetime and annual dollar limits to EHBs

  8. Which Plans Must Cover EHBs? • Starting in 2014, all nongrandfathered individual insurance policies, nongrandfathered fully insured small-group products, and QHPs offered on exchanges will have to cover EHBs • Future HHS guidance will address how state Medicaid programs must implement EHBs • Self-insured group health plans, fully insured plans offered to large employers (generally, those with more than 100 employees), and grandfathered small-group and individual policies do not have to cover all EHBs • However, even if a plan is not required to cover all EHBs, other health care reform rules apply to any EHBs that are included in the plan’s coverage

  9. Which Plans Must Cover EHBs?

  10. Which Plans Must Cover EHBs? – Lingering Questions • Recent HHS bulletin doesn’t define EHBs for purposes of the dollar-limit restrictions • Lacking this guidance, employers trying to comply with the dollar-limit restrictions have found that it isn’t always clear whether a particular service or item is an EHB • Opinions differ on whether hearing aids or bariatric surgery are EHBs subject to lifetime or annual dollar-limit restrictions • Regulators have simply said that until final regulations are issued, employers should make a good-faith effort to comply with a reasonable and consistent interpretation of EHBs

  11. Approach to Defining EHBs • HHS did not come up with a single method of defining EHBs or follow the recommendations of a recent Institute of Medicine report prepared at the agency’s request • Instead, HHS adopts the approach used to define the scope of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and certain Medicaid populations • This approach would give each state a choice of “benchmark” plans to define covered EHBs for that state • The selected benchmark plan would reflect the scope of services offered and any limits imposed by a “typical employer plan” in the state • The HHS proposal would pave the way for a patchwork of EHB packages for individual and small-group insured policies and QHPs in different states • For multistate employers, this approach would complicate design and administration of plans to comply with restricted dollar limits

  12. Benchmark Plans To set EHB standards in 2014 and 2015, states could choose a benchmark plan from any of the following sources, selecting among the three plans with the largest enrollment within each category: • Small-group insured plans in the state • State employee health benefit plans • National offerings under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) • Insured commercial HMOs operating in the state (other than Medicaid HMOs)

  13. What’s Missing The bulletin leaves unsettled many questions. Two of the most notable unresolved issues for employer-sponsored plans are: • How to determine EHBs for purposes of lifetime and annual dollar-limit restrictions? • What cost-sharing or actuarial-valuation approaches are acceptable?

  14. Employer Next Steps • Until regulators issue more guidance, employers should consider whether using one of the suggested benchmarks would be a reasonable way to define EHBs when applying any lifetime or annual dollar limits in group health plans • This inquiry may be more complicated for self-insured employers operating in several states, where flexibility to choose a benchmark from plans operating in a particular state or the FEHBP’s national offerings may be optimal • Employers may want to consult with legal counsel and consider giving comments to HHS by the Jan. 31 deadline

  15. 2012 and 2013: Upcoming Mandates and Responsibilities

  16. IRS expands, clarifies guidance on Form W-2 reporting of health care coverage • A new IRS notice explains how an employer should report the aggregate cost of an employee’s health coverage, starting with the 2012 Form W-2 due in early 2013 • Clarified exemptions. The notice clarifies that the reporting requirement does not apply to certain types of coverage, including the following: • Dental and vision plans meeting the conditions of an “excepted benefit” for certain HIPAA purposes • Coverage in an employee assistance program, wellness program or on-site medical clinic if COBRA enrollees aren’t charged a premium for that coverage • Health flexible spending arrangements funded solely by salary reduction contributions • Certain independent, non-coordinated hospital or fixed indemnity insurance offered on an after-tax basis to employees

  17. IRS expands, clarifies guidance on Form W-2 reporting of health care coverage • Other noteworthy changes. New and revised information in the notice includes these details: • Coverage cost may be based on the employer’s available information as of Dec. 31. Therefore, subsequent notifications or elections (e.g., divorce) needn’t be considered • Alternative methods may be used to calculate the reportable amount if coverage extends over a payroll period that includes a Dec. 31, provided the method is used for all employees • Coverage reporting relief for employers filing fewer than 250 Forms W-2 is based on the prior calendar year and is determined without taking into account the use of certain agents • Immediate application. Because the 2012 Forms W-2 due in early 2013 must report on health coverage provided this year, employers should begin using this notice to identify coverages subject to reporting, determine their costs, track coverage by employee and capture other needed data

  18. Women’s Preventive Services • For plan years beginning on or after 8/1/2012, non-grandfathered and individual health plans must cover the following: • Well-woman visit at least annually • Contraceptive drugs and methods as prescribed • Lactation support with each birth • HPV and DNA testing for cervical cancer every 3 years • HIV testing and counseling annually • Domestic violence screening and counseling annually • Sexually transmitted disease counseling annually • Screening for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of gestation

  19. 2013 2012 Q1 2012 Q2 2012 Q3 2012 Q4 Conduct ongoing strategy discussions, refine future plans Timeline1 for top priority 2012 - 2013 activities • Employers notify employees about exchanges • Medical device manufacturers’ fees start • Change in Medicare retiree drug subsidy tax treatment takes effect • Exchanges initial open enrollment period to begin in the fall • Auto-enrollment of full-time employees (applicability date TBD) • $2,500 health FSA contribution cap (communicate during open enrollment in 2012) • Higher Medicare payroll tax on wagesexceeding $200,000/ individual; $250,000/couples (modify payroll systems in 2012) • Form W-2 reporting for health coverage (track in 2012 for W-2 form provided in early 2013) • No cost sharing for women’s preventive services in nongrandfathered plans • Women’s preventive services: • Prepare to cover with no cost sharing for non-grandfathered plans • Group health plan fee: • Annual 2012 fee of $1 per average number of covered lives • Notices about exchanges: • Prepare 2013 employee notices for distribution in 2013 (draft notice not yet available) • $2,500 FSA contribution cap: • Communicate during open enrollment • Form W-2 reporting: • Begin tracking aggregate health plan cost • Uniform summary of benefits and coverage: • Watch for regulations and the compliance date • Medicare payroll tax: • Prepare for payroll system modifications to tax 2013 wages exceeding $200,000/individual; $250,000/couples 1. Timeline assumes a January 1 plan year. Timing for plans with other renewal dates need to be adjusted accordingly

  20. Services provided by Mercer Health & Benefits LLC. California Insurance License 0E75483

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