The Affordable Care Act's Impact on Education

After just attending a seminar on the “Affordable Care Act” provided by Brown and Brown Insurance, I walked out with more questions than answers… not because of the presentation and material covered, that was top notch quality time well spent; but because of the sheer volume and speculation of how the government’s massive entitlement program will eventually change the landscape of Health Insurance offerings for school districts and where we fall relative to the implementation timelines and penalties.

The best line of the morning was, “The Affordable Care Act is not Health Care reform… it is Health Care Insurance Reform” and that reform is more mandates that fall on the shoulders of business to include schools.  Worse yet it will eventually force unpopular staffing decisions that will have adverse income effects on hourly workers leading to potential cutting of hours, reductions in force and or outsourcing.

According to the Whitehouse, “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act or ACA) enacted comprehensive health insurance reforms designed to ensure Americans have access to quality, affordable health insurance.” 

How this plays out remains to be seen; however, one inescapable fact remains…. It’s coming and we better prepare for change as we as School Business Administrators like all other business leaders in all sectors of the market will be responsible for implementing, overseeing and managing that change.

While the information and components of the program are sizable, I have attached links to sites through my own research on the topic designed to help guide us through the process.  Absent the presentation provided by Louis Della Penna Jr., Executive Vice President of Brown & Brown Benefit Advisors, Inc., Lambertville, NJ, we would again be heading into the change with little to no guidance from the creators and enforcers of the plan… government albeit web information.

Key Features of the Law

The health care law offers clear choices for consumers and provides new ways to hold insurance companies accountable. The most important parts of the law are broken into groups below. We’ll highlight new features of the law here as they roll out between now and 2014.

http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/

Key Provisions of the Affordable Care Act

The Affordable Care Act includes a variety of measures specifically for small businesses that help lower premium cost growth and increase access to quality, affordable health insurance. Depending on whether you are self-employed, an employer with fewer than 25 employees, an employer with fewer than 50 employees, or an employer with 50 or more employees, different provisions of the Affordable Care Act may apply to you. Learn about the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act based on the size of your business below.

Employers with 50 or More Employees

Key Provisions Under the Affordable Care Act for Employers with 50 or More Employees

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act occurs in stages, with many of the reforms and requirements taking effect in 2013 and 2014. Some of the provisions that may impact employers with 50 or more employees include:

http://www.sba.gov/content/employers-with-50-or-more-employees

 

What Is a Health Exchange?

Learn How Health Exchanges in Your State May Affect You

From Michael Bihari, MD, former About.com Guide

Updated April 04, 2010

A health exchange will be created in each state by 2014. The health reform legislation (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) signed into law in March 2010 by President Obama creates state-based health insurance exchanges. States can choose to operate their own exchanges or participate in a multi-state exchange.

Summary of Potential Employer Penalties

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable

Care Act (PPACA)
 

http://www.ncsl.org/documents/health/EmployerPenalties.pdf