Delay in state health exchanges for small business

[MichaelB]

One part of the state exchanges has been postponed for one year. This is unfortunate for small businesses, because this aspect of the exchange would let them have different plans for their employees but only have to make one monthly premium payment. Small-Business Insurance Market From Health Law Delayed a Year - Bloomberg

Small-business employees will have to wait a year before they can choose their own medical plans after the Obama administration delayed a part of the 2010 U.S. health-care law intended to provide them with coverage options.
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Implementation of employee choice in the program won’t be possible next year because of “operational challenges,” the U.S. said in the regulation posted March 11. The government, in its regulatory statement, said it had heard from insurers and others who were worried that health plans, brokers and companies wouldn’t be able to adjust to the new marketplace, called the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, in time.

Edit to clarify: the delay means tist regulation is now mandatory for 2015, not 2014. States are free to implement sooner, and there are reports some will do so.

 

[pb4uski]

From what I have read of the VT exchange, it will cover individuals and employees of small businesses (50 or fewer employees IIRC), so either the exchange website is behind the times or the above might vary from state-to-state. I suspect the latter in that we are commonly on the bleeding edge of change.

 

[MichaelB]

From what I have read of the VT exchange, it will cover individuals and employees of small businesses (50 or fewer employees IIRC), so either the exchange website is behind the times or the above might vary from state-to-state. I suspect the latter in that we are commonly on the bleeding edge of change.

Right. I edited my post to reflect this. Vermont is not behind, it is [-]bleeding[/-] leading the way.

 

[pb4uski]

If VT really goes single payer later in the decade as planned it will probably be what you struckthrough, but I think the more likely outcome is that the single payer initiative will fall apart due to insurmountable funding issues.

 

[Mulligan]

If VT really goes single payer later in the decade as planned it will probably be what you struckthrough, but I think the more likely outcome is that the single payer initiative will fall apart due to insurmountable funding issues.

If those preliminary single payer rates held and didn't increase, the median age of a person in Vermont would be about 60 in five years as anyone old enough to know what the word Geritol is, would be moving there.