Policymakers must consider implications for employer-provided health insurance in effort to achieve universal coverage, lower costs
WASHINGTON, DC – "If the end goal is to achieve universal coverage and lower health care costs, a public option that makes employer health care coverage more expensive and that fails to address the root causes of rising health care costs will not accomplish this objective," American Benefits Council Senior Vice President, Health Policy, Ilyse Schuman said today in response to a recent request for information from two key members of Congress.
WASHINGTON, DC – "Crisis is clarifying, in that it reveals one's true character. The COVID-19 crisis revealed the remarkable durability of employer-sponsored health care coverage and the responsiveness of the companies that provide it," American Benefits Council President James A. Klein said upon unveiling the Silver Linings Pandemic Playbook, a collection of employers' good works over the past 18 months.
Over the past 18 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a severe toll on families, businesses, and national economies. Against the backdrop of this tragedy were extraordinary efforts and achievements to overcome the crisis and keep us healthy.
From the heroism of frontline workers to the ingenuity of vaccine developers and producers, to the durability of infrastructure supply chains, the pandemic has revealed strength, creativity and resilience.
WASHINGTON, DC – "It is no surprise that public polls reveal the popularity of job-based health coverage, because we all know it is the high-quality, affordable coverage that people want to keep," American Benefits Council President James A. Klein said today. "Less well known is that employer-provided health coverage is an enormous bargain for American taxpayers," Klein said. "A simple calculation shows that U.S. companies spend more than $5 on health benefits for every $1 of tax revenue lost."
On July 1, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and Treasury (the Departments) issued interim final regulations (IFR), implementing the surprise billing provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA). The 411-page IFR, which was required by statute to be issued by July 1, is the first piece of formal guidance in what will be a series of regulations on this topic. Some of the rules were issued by the Departments and parts of the rule were HHS-only rules (i.e., those focused on provider requirements). Below is a summary of the IFR for Council members.
WASHINGTON, DC – Health care payers and patients will now be better protected from unexpected medical bills, according to the American Benefits Council's analysis of interim final regulations (IFR) issued today by the Biden Administration. Surprise medical bills refers to bills for out-of-network emergency services and out-of-network providers in in-network settings, where the provider bills the patient for often substantial amounts above what the plan pays.
The American Benefits Council provided comments in connection with the Fiscal Year 2022 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Long Term Care Hospital Rates Proposed Rule ("2022 IPPS Proposed Rule"), issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reiterating support for, and emphasizing the vital importance of, price and quality transparency in health care.
Good morning. My name is Jan Jacobson and I am senior counsel, retirement policy for the American Benefits Council. The Council is a national non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and fostering privately sponsored employee benefit plans. Its approximately 440 members are primarily large, multistate employers that provide employee benefits to active and retired workers and their families. The Council's membership also includes organizations that provide employee-benefit services to employers of all sizes. Collectively, the Council's members either directly sponsor or provide services to retirement and health plans covering virtually every American who participates in employer-sponsored benefit programs.
"With the latest legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) dispatched by the U.S. Supreme Court on the basis of absence of 'legal standing,' the health care policy world returns to a state of cautious certainty," American Benefits Council President James A. Klein said today.
Council Statement for the House Ways and Means Worker Family and Support Subcommittee Hearing Record on Universal Paid Leave and Guaranteed Access to Child Care
Comparison of Provisions in the Securing A Strong Retirement Act (H.R. 2954, Neal/Brady) and the Retirement Security And Savings Act (S. 1770, Cardin/Portman)
Thank you for your work to address the pressing issue of missing and unresponsive participants in retirement plans. We welcome the introduction of your legislation, the Retirement Savings Lost and Found Act of 2021, and appreciate the opportunity to have communicated regularly with your staff as you developed this bill.
On May 20, 2021, Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rob Portman (R-OH) reintroduced their Retirement Security and Savings Act (S. 1770), a bipartisan measure to enhance retirement security. This bill follows on very similar legislation introduced by the Senators in the previous Congress, builds on the the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, enacted in 2019, and contains a number of provisions that are similar to those in the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (H.R. 2954), sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and the committee's Ranking Republican Kevin Brady (R-TX) and approved by the committee on May 5, 2021.
