Group Benefits – Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk

It wasn’t long before campaign promises to repeal Obamacare became official White House policy. On his first day in office, President Trump issued an Executive Order stating that “it is the policy of my Administration to seek the prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.” This clearly marks the beginning of a long period of uncertainty about the future of Obamacare. What isn’t so clear is how the President’s Executive Order will affect employers.

Let’s start by clarifying that the Executive Order did not amend or repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Only an act of Congress can do that. Instead, President Trump essentially issued marching orders to the heads of executive agencies about how their ACA-related authorities and responsibilities must be exercised under his administration. As head of the Executive Branch, this is within the President’s authority.

Specifically, the President directed these executive agencies to exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any ACA provision or requirement that would impose costs, fees, taxes, penalties or regulatory burdens. Can a directive as simple as this really change the ACA?

No, it can’t change the law itself. What it can do is change how the ACA is interpreted and enforced. This is because Congress sometimes uses broad strokes to enact a law. It then empowers one or more federal agencies to fill in the details. When it comes to the ACA, Congress did this quite a bit.

For example, Congress gave various federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services(HHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the general authority to promulgate any rules and regulations that may be necessary or appropriate to carry out a number of ACA provisions. Congress also gave these agencies some very specific and significant authority.

Hardship Exemptions. Congress included a hardship exemption in the ACA so deserving individuals can avoid the penalty for failing to have health insurance. Congress authorized HHS to define and determine whether someone qualifies for a hardship exemption.
Large Employer Reporting Requirements. Congress required applicable large employers to furnish and file information reports detailing offers of health insurance coverage to full-time employees. Congress authorized the IRS to determine how these reports must be prepared and when they are due.
Reasonable Cause Waivers. Congress included a waiver provision in the ACA so employers showing reasonable cause could avoid the penalty for failing to comply with the ACA’s reporting requirements. Congress authorized the IRS to define and determine whether an employer qualifies for a reasonable cause waiver.
Large Employer Penalty. Congress created a penalty for applicable large employers failing to offer full-time employees a minimum level of health insurance coverage, which must be paid when the employer receives a notice and demand for payment. Congress made the IRS responsible for not only determining when payments would be due, but for sending the actual demand for payment.

As you can see, various executive agencies have quite a bit of power to affect how the ACA is interpreted, applied and enforced. This power was given to them by Congress when the ACA was enacted. The Executive Order merely directs how these agencies must exercise the authorities and powers they already had under the ACA.

However, there are limits to this power. Formal rule and regulatory changes should be subject to the Administrative Procedure Act’s notice and publication requirements. This process can take months, possibly years. There may be a bit more flexibility when it comes to less-than-formal agency actions, but there are still statutory and constitutional limits that cannot be exceeded.

How far will President Trump and the executive agencies take the Executive Order to push their agenda? How far will opponents let them go before pushing back? How will the courts rule if (when) lawsuits are filed? The only thing we know for sure is that change is coming.

Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk is committed to guiding you through the constantly developing health care landscape. Check back with us periodically for future informational updates about the Affordable Care Act or contact us if you would like to discuss how we can help you comply with health care reform.

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Did you know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) contains a civil rights provision? The ACA prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in certain health programs and activities. Despite becoming law in 2010, final implementation rules were not issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) until May 2016. On July 18, 2016, the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities final rule went into effect.

Under the ACA, individuals cannot be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any covered health program or activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. Though the final rule generally incorporates existing federal nondiscrimination laws and policies , provisions dealing with sex discrimination, primarily gender identity and sex stereotyping, are getting the most attention.

The final rule states that sex discrimination includes discrimination based on sex, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions. Individuals cannot be denied health care based on their sex and women and men must be treated equally in terms of health care and insurance coverage. However, the final rule also prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sex stereotyping.

Gender identity is an individual’s internal sense of gender. It may be male, female, neither, or a combination of both. An individual’s gender identity may be different from the sex they were assigned at birth. A transgender individual is an individual whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to that person at birth.

Sex stereotypes are stereotypical notions of masculinity or femininity. They include expectations of how individuals represent or communicate their gender to others and that individuals will consistently identify with and conform to stereotypes associated with their assigned gender. Sex stereotypes also include gendered expectations related to the appropriate roles of a certain sex.

According to HHS, categorical coverage exclusions or limitations for all health care services related to gender transition are discriminatory. Individuals must be treated in a manner consistent with their gender identity. Providers may not deny or limit treatment that is ordinarily or exclusively available to individuals of one gender because the person seeking treatment identifies as belonging to another gender.

The manner in which the final rule expanded the traditional scope of sex discrimination to include gender identity and sex stereotyping represents a fairly significant policy shift. However, HHS admits that the final rule does not resolve whether discrimination on the basis of an individual’s sexual orientation alone violates the ACA’s nondiscrimination provision. Nevertheless, HHS states that allegations of sexual orientation discrimination will be evaluated by the Office for Civil Rights to determine whether they involve the sorts of stereotyping that violate the ACA’s nondiscrimination provision.

Despite not being directly covered by the ACA’s nondiscrimination rules, many employers will be affected indirectly. Employers providing fully insured group health plans may be affected because their insurance companies are covered by the rule. Employers using a covered third-party administrator to manage their self-fund group plan may also be affected by the rule. Consequently, employers should have at least a basic understanding of the ACA’s nondiscrimination rules.

At Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk, we are committed to guiding you through the constantly changing health care landscape and offer a number of valuable risk management solutions to help you properly and efficiently manage your employee benefits, group health and business insurance programs.

Please contact us if you would like more information about complying with the Affordable Care Act or subscribe to our weekly risk mangement newsletter.