Healthcare Reform
The American Foundry Society (AFS) and North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) support market-driven health-care reforms that lead to greater access to affordable, quality health care for American metalcasters and their employees.
Background:
In March 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) - Public Law 111-148. Many of the provisions of the law will require extensive rules and regulation to be written. [See Implementation Timeline at end of this Update.] Moving into 2011, House GOP leaders intend to take apart some of the sprawling law piece by piece before major aspects of it go into effect.
Congressional Action in 2011:
As one of its campaign promises, repealing the new healthcare reform law was at the top of the House Republican majority’s to-do list in the 112th Congress. By a largely party line vote, the House of Representatives voted in January 2011 to repeal the PPACA by 245-189. The effort was purely symbolic, as it will not advance through the Senate which remains in Democratic control.
House leaders have tasked the four committees with jurisdiction over healthcare matters - Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means, Education & the Workforce, and Judiciary - with crafting alternative healthcare proposals. Congressional leaders laid out specific goals, including that the proposals should lower health insurance premiums via “increased competition and choice,” reform the medical liability system, provide access to insurance for those with pre-existing conditions and increase the number of Americans with insurance - all without tax increases and without exacerbating the issue of Medicare’s future insolvency.
In recent weeks, there have been numerous oversight hearings on a number of aspects of the healthcare law, including: the impact on small business; solvency of the Medicare and Medicaid programs; erosion of employer-based group health care; definition of essential health benefits; questions about the medical/loss ratio requirements; and, the regulation of health insurance exchanges.
Repeal of 1099 Paperwork Requirement:
The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the “Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011” (HR 4) on March 3, 2011 to repeal the 1099 tax reporting paperwork mandate in the new healthcare law. The bill eliminates Section 9006 of the health care law, which requires, effective January 1, 2012, that all businesses file 1099 tax forms for goods, property and service transactions totaling $600 or more in a given year. Similar legislation was passed by the Senate in February. It was included to help pay for the trillion dollar deficit created by the healthcare bill, this new tax is reported to raise $17 billion.
Since January, AFS and NADCA have been working with the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Health Care and have been lobbying Congress to repeal the 1099 provision. A letter signed by more than 100 small business groups, including AFS and NADCA, was distributed to the entire House urging support of the 1099 repeal provision.
AFS and NADCA members reported experiencing double digit increases in their insurance premiums – their insurance companies told them that these increases were due in part in preparation for the new healthcare law to go into effect. These stories were shared with House congressional staff and members of Congress.
Outlook:
It remains unclear how legislation to scale back the health care law will fare in the Senate. House Republicans plan to move forward in the months ahead on legislation limiting medical liability reform, tax credits to help Americans afford insurance, allowing for the purchase of health insurance across state lines and repealing the 1099 requirements.
Another option for Republicans is to deny the funding needed to carry out PPACA's mandates. According to health care policy experts, the GOP will not be able to stop funding completely but they can keep it from growing by putting the Department of Health and Human Services "on a diet".
In addition, the healthcare law faces numerous judicial roadblocks as federal judges and states are taking legal action on portions of the law and reviewing the constitutionality of the individual mandate provision. Most recently, a federal district court judge in Florida dealt the controversial PPACA another blow by holding the entire Act to be void because a key provision - the individual mandate - does not pass constitutional muster. It is likely that the law could eventually be taken up by the United States Supreme Court.
For more information, contact Stephanie Salmon, Metalcasters Alliance for Government Affairs Washington Office, 202/842-4864 or ssalmon@afsinc.org.
Implementation Timeline for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- 2010 -- Grandfathered plans must comply with some insurance reforms; the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury issue an interim final rule to explain what changes can be made to grandfathered plans while maintaining grandfathered status.
- 2010 -- The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury release an interim final rule, effective July 12, 2010, explaining the new rules on offering coverage for dependents until age 26; agencies will take comment until Aug. 11, 2010; IRS also issues guidance (Notice 2010-38) on the tax treatment of dependent coverage benefits.
- 2010 -- Interim final rule published regarding lifetime and annual limits, pre-existing condition exclusions, rescission of coverage, patient protections; rules take effect Aug. 27, 2010.
- 2011 -- Employers report health care coverage costs on W-2 forms (tax years after 12/31/2010).
- 2011 -- FSA limited to $2,500; over-the-counter medicines no longer reimbursed unless prescribed.
- 2012 -- Employer 1099 reporting for payments of under $600 to corporate providers of property/services. NOTE: Legislation to repeal this expanded 1099 reporting requirement of the health care law pending before Congress.
- 2013 -- All employers provide employees information about exchanges beginning March 1.
- 2014 -- Health insurance exchanges begin.
- 2014 -- Individual mandate begins.
- 2014 -- Employer requirements begin.
- 2014 -- 90-day waiting period allowed.
