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HITECH Final Rule Business Associate Contract Changes
Posted on May 21, 2013
The 2013 HITECH Final Rules, which went into effect March 26, 2013, impose significant new obligations on covered entities, business associates, and subcontractors. HHS recognizes the additional burden the new requirements impose on these entities so many organizations will have additional time to execute amended business associate contracts beyond the September 23, 2013 compliance date. Businesses that qualify for transition relief may have an additional year beyond September 23, 2013 to execute amended business associate contracts.
DOL Releases Revised COBRA Election Notice
Posted on May 21, 2013
On May 8, 2013, the DOL released an updated model COBRA Election Notice. The notice has been revised to include basic information about the availability of other coverage in the new public Exchanges. These new Exchanges, which the DOL is now calling the “Health Insurance Marketplace” or “the Marketplace”, will be another option for COBRA qualified beneficiaries beginning January 1, 2014.
Health Reform's PCORI Fees
Posted on May 17, 2013
The Affordable Care Act established the nonprofit Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to promote the use of evidence-based medicine by disseminating comparative clinical effectiveness research findings. This new Institute, which is funded in part by fees collected from insurers and plan sponsors, will ideally help patients and clinicians to make better informed health care decisions. The fees, which are treated as an excise tax, are often referred to as the “PCORI fees”, “PCOR fees” or “CER fees”.
Premium Rating Inside and Outside the Public Exchange
Posted on May 17, 2013
The Affordable Care Act provides that individual and small group premium rates charged by insurers, both inside and outside the Exchange, may vary with respect to a limited number of factors. We have known for quite awhile that insurers selling to individuals and small businesses will no longer be able to take health status or claims experience into consideration. Four factors will determine the rates charged for individuals and small group businesses beginning in 2014.
IRS Releases 2014 Figures for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
Posted on May 17, 2013
On May 2, 2013, the IRS released the 2014 inflation adjustment figures for Health Savings Accounts.
