On September 23, the first of the health care reform implementation dates for employers went into effect with the enactment of six major provisions (Note: An asterisk indicates that the provision only applies to new plans, or to those who make changes to their existing plans, not those plans already in effect when health care reform was passed.)

• Extending Coverage for Young Adults: Young adults who do not already have health insurance through an employer, can stay on a parent's plan until they turn 26.
• Providing Free Preventive Care*: New plans must offer free preventive services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies. They cannot charge a deductible, co-pay or co-insurance.
• Banning Insurance Companies from Rescinding Coverage: When a person gets sick, it will no longer be legal for insurance companies to search for an error or other mistake on that person's application to deny coverage. (Note: For most people, this will take effect in January 2011, at the beginning of a health plan's new year.)
• Appealing Insurance Company Decisions*: Consumers will have two ways to appeal coverage decisions or claims, 1) through their insurer or 2) through an independent decision-maker.
• Eliminating Lifetime Limits on Insurance Coverage*: Insurance companies can't set lifetime limits on key benefits, such as hospital stays.
• Regulating Annual Limits on Insurance Coverage: The law will restrict insurance companies' ability to set annual dollar limits on coverage for individual and group plans.

If you have questions about how these provisions will affect your employee benefit plans or individual policies, contact Baybenefits for information and guidance.

The Society for HR Management has an excellent article on how health care reform means changes in open enrollment for 2010 benefit programs. The economy, the national debate on health care, the increased influence of social media – all of this is changing the way employees think about their benefits. To meet their enrollment targets for 2010, HR managers need to consider the following factors in crafting their benefits communication:

1. Employees care about their benefits more than ever before, and benefits are a larger part of their total compensation in 2010.
2. Benefits are on the national stage, and you’re going to get more hard-to-answer questions.
3. Social media are changing expectations as to how, when and why employees receive information.

With these factors in mind, the Society for HR Management suggests the following guidelines for benefits communication during open enrollment for 2010:

• Connect benefits to the business.
• Keep it simple.
• Focus on employees’ needs.
• Promote missed and under-utilized benefits.
• Start using social media to communicate benefits.

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The Washington Post reports that though some 16.6 million workers are employed by small businesses that are eligible for health insurance tax credits under the new health care law, the Commonwealth Fund estimates that only 3.4 million of those workers are at firms that would take advantage of the tax credit.

For the most part, those are firms that already offer their employees health insurance. Those firms that do not offer coverage are unlikely to consider the tax breaks enough of a financial incentive to start doing so, according to the Commonwealth Fund report.

Potential stimulus benefits: Authors of the report stressed the potential stimulus benefits of the tax credits, which apply beginning this taxable year and will increase in value in 2014 from as much as 35 percent of an employer's premium contribution to as much as 50 percent. (The lower the wages and number of workers at a small business, the greater the size of the tax credit it is eligible for.)

According to the story in the Post, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2016, the last year for which the tax credits will be available, they will have reduced health insurance premiums for small business by 8 to 11 percent.

At that point, small businesses and their employees will be able to buy comprehensive insurance on state-based exchanges, which will be established in 2014 and are expected to offer more affordable rates than available in the current market.

If you have questions about how these changes will affect your employee benefit plans or individual policies, contact Baybenefits for information and guidance.