Compliance Week had a great short article discussing the Supreme Court’s decision upholding healthcare reform puts companies on notice that compliance avoidance is no longer an option.
Tammy Whitehouse wrote, “In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the major provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signaling that companies need to finalize their plans for implementing the long list of requirements it imposes on employers beginning in a few months.”
She quotes Sharon Cunninghis, leader of U.S. health and benefits for consulting firm Mercer that “the key thing for employers, particularly those that have been sitting on the fence and taking a wait-and-see approach, is now you really need to start thinking about your strategy.” Cunninghis goes on to say, “Companies need to tally up the near-term requirements and the long-term requirements through something of a health-care checkup of their own.”
According to Cunninghis, this fall, companies need to be prepared to distribute a uniform summary of benefits and coverage during their open enrollment period to clearly explain options and requirements to employees. They need to be tracking information now that will be reported in W-2 forms in 2013, she says, and they need to get up to speed on requirements around women’s preventive services, contributions to flexible spending accounts, changes in Medicare payroll taxes for high-income earners, and a variety of others.
Source: Compliance Week
