Category: Employee Benefits

Trump Issues ACA Executive Order

On Friday, shortly after he took the oath of office, President Trump signed an executive order designed to “minimize the economic burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”.

While the President works with Congress to attempt to repeal and replace the ACA, this executive order allows the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – and other departments – to delay implementing any part of the law that might place a “fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications.” 

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Top Risk Concerns for Businesses and Individuals

Business leaders and consumers share many common concerns, according to data compiled from the 2016 Travelers Risk Index. The annual survey found that cyber risk is still considered one of the greatest risks facing both Americans and American businesses. And while businesses worry more about the implications of getting hacked, consumers are primarily concerned about personal privacy loss, identity fraud and cyber threats.

Top Business Risk Concerns

Medical cost inflation, increasing employee benefit costs and cyber-related technology risks/data breaches again topped the Travelers Risk Index for business concerns in 2016, although the overall proportion who felt the business environment is becoming more risky declined slightly from 2015 to 2016, from 44 percent to 41 percent. 

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The GOP Plan for the Future of the ACA Repeal ... Delay ... Replace

It appears as though the growing consensus within the GOP leadership is that they need to insert one additional verb into their plans for dealing with the future of the ACA … Delay.

After a meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Tuesday, it seems that the strategy of a repeal through budget reconciliation in the first 100 days of President-elect Trump’s presidency is still in their plans. However, the replacement isn’t going to come as quickly as some had thought, and many in the GOP might have hoped for. 

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Election Update: Where Do We Go From Here?

The 2016 election results are in.  We all woke up this morning (or stayed up until 3:00 a.m.) to learn that, despite almost all pollsters and pundits predicting otherwise, Donald Trump has been elected to be the 45th President of the United States.  When he takes the oath of office in January, we will also have a Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate.  As we outlined previously, this outcome was the only one where we could see real change related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

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How will the 2016 election impact the ACA?

*Updated Monday, November 7, at 2:45 p.m. (EST) to reflect current polls.

We are nearing the conclusion of one of the most dramatic and unpredictable election cycles in history. The odds have continued to shift on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. Many companies and individuals are wondering how the Affordable Care Act, also known as the ACA, will be impacted based on the election. Let’s take a look at where things stand, the possible outcomes of the election and some potential impacts to the ACA.

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