Health Industry, Insurers Launch Coalition To Sign Up Uninsured
Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare reports that federal officials are seeking input regarding a health overhaul provision.
The Associated Press/Washington Post: Insurers Fought Obama's Health Overhaul, But Now They Aid Coalition To Sign Up Uninsured
Betting that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul withstands lawsuits and a Republican repeal drive, an unusual alliance of industry, health care and consumer groups is laying the groundwork to sign up uninsured Americans. Called Enroll America, the group will launch Wednesday — a day after the Census Bureau reported that nearly 50 million people had no health insurance in 2010, the highest number since the statistic was first collected more than two decades ago (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/14).
Modern Healthcare: Feds Seek Input on Proposed Change In Worker Salary Calculation
Large employers could avoid penalties under the 2010 federal health care law — based on their offering too-costly insurance to their employees — through a newly proposed simplified calculation of their employees' salaries. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service are seeking public comment on a proposed workaround of a requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that large employers calculate whether their insurance policies are "affordable" to their workers. That determination is based on how their insurance costs compare to the modified adjusted gross income of both the employee and the employee’s spouse and dependents, which are unknowable to the employer, today's announcement acknowledged (Daly, 9/13).