The PPACA Plan Design Sandwich – How to Eat It Without Getting an Upset Stomach! [WEBINAR RECORDING & SLIDE DECK]

 2013 Webinar Recording

TOPICS COVERED

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) continues to bring major changes in the way health care is financed and delivered in this country.

While its middle name – affordable - means different things to different stakeholders, the law is clearly designed to emphasize affordability for individuals. Unfortunately, these affordability provisions will cause major heartburn for many employers as they design their plans for 2014 and beyond.

For the first time in our history, the federal government will dictate the value of the health benefits that employers must provide and how much they can charge to employees as their share of the cost.

Employers must meet both the “minimum value” and “affordability” provisions or be subject to substantial penalties. And if that weren’t enough, you need to have a strategy that controls costs because if you don’t – you are subject to additional taxation in 2018 for having too rich of a plan.

Does this sound like a sandwich you can “afford” to eat? This workshop will address the following topics:

• Definitions for “minimum value” and “affordability” so that you understand the plan design boundaries you need to work within to avoid potential penalties in 2014

• Short term approaches that don’t require radical alteration to your current design

• The “cadillac tax” and projecting the likelihood of significant new taxes in future years

• Long term approaches & opportunities to change the cost curve to keep your benefits tax deductible