This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion on the constitutionality of PPACA. In a 5-4 vote, the Court appears to have upheld those provisions of PPACA that most significantly impact employers and plan sponsors. Initial impressions indicate that the Court found that the individual mandate is constitutional under the Taxing Powers.
Now for the practical part. For the next few days, there will be lots of noise about what this means, and efforts to interpret what the results are and what are the political implications. There will be lots of people trying to explain the decision and lots of debate about what to do next. Plan sponsors, including those that have health plans maintained through the purchase of insurance will probably be best served by not overreacting. At this point, we have worked very hard to comply with PPACA and we should assume we are going to have to continue to comply until we are told otherwise.
So take an inventory of what changes you have made and verify what changes might have to be made to comply between now and the start of your next plan year. Continue working on your summary of benefits coverages that have to go out for open enrollment. Get ready to report health coverage costs on the 2102 W-2s. Make sure you have all required PPACA amendments in place and documentation to verify compliance. And keep in touch with your benefits professionals to seek their guidance on changes to compliance. In other words, keep moving forward.
