Today’s issue is brought to you by AIS’s Health Reform Week, the nation’s leading publication on the business implications of the massive changes for the health industry mandated by reform.

June 18, 2013

Final Wellness Rule Under the ACA Eases Some Employer Concerns, but Not Others
Reprinted from AIS’s Health Reform Week

The final wellness-programs rule released by three federal departments May 29 attempts to ease some employer concerns about what they must do if they offer wellness incentive programs. But there were two changes in the rule that could pose problems, albeit ones that perhaps could be worked around, for plan sponsors, according to one employee benefits expert.... Read Full Story

The Unicorn Exists … and It’s in Maryland

On June 13, I moderated a panel discussion on health insurance exchanges at the Gorman Health Group’s annual forum outside of Washington, D.C. During that session, Rebecca Pearce, executive director of the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, confirmed the existence of the Federal Data Services Hub — something that many in the industry consider as mythical as unicorns and leprechauns.... Read more

“No one has ever had to assemble household income before [as they do with insurance exchanges]….This is a new concept, and I don’t know how well the data hub will be able to do it. They talk about the data hub as a verification system, so one of the questions is how reliable is the information coming back to the exchange? And how much more work will the exchange have to undertake to confirm eligibility for employer coverage and/or go back to the applicant to collect additional information?”

— Chip Kerby, an employee benefits attorney at the Washington, D.C.-based firm Liberty Group LLC, told AIS’s Inside Health Insurance Exchanges.

Click here to read the INSIDE HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGES article in which this quote appeared. (Free for HEX subscribers; $17 for non-subscribers).

Today's Datapoint

Nearly 60%... is the rise in total costs associated with treating attention deficit disorder from 2008 to 2010, according to a new study from Express Scripts Holding.

Click here to read the DRUG BENEFIT NEWS article in which this datapoint appeared. (Free for DBN subscribers; $17 for non-subscribers).

Did Kaiser intentionally price out certain consumers from exchange plans?

With some of the highest premium rates among the 13 insurers that will sell plans on California's health insurance exchange, many industry analysts are questioning whether Kaiser Permanente intentionally priced its premiums so high to prevent expensive consumers from applying, the Los Angeles Times reported.... Read more

• Congressional Record
• Federal Register

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