Benefits quarterly
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While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) focused largely on improving access to health care coverage for the uninsured, its broader and longer-term influence may have been its impact on accelerating key trends and strategies that major employers and other stakeholders have been targeting for years. This article looks at some of these trends, where we were pre-ACA and how ACA (through benefit mandates, shared responsibility penalties, Cadillac plan tax, health information technology, accountable care organizations, etc.) has helped to accelerate and refocus efforts. In addition, the public exchange paradigm has given rise to a private exchange movement that is helping further accelerate the transformation of the New Health Economy.
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The Affordable Care Act's "Cadillac tax" on high-cost group health care plans begins in 2018, yet its expected impact on employers remains an open question. Clarifying regulations, guidance and potential statutory changes between now and then will determine whether employers find the tax to be even more of an administrative burden than a financial one. This article discusses the top five open issues about the application of the tax and its administrative requirements, encouraging employers to use caution in making strategic decisions in advance of clarifying regulations and potential statutory changes.