Side Effects: Regulatory Pillow to Smother Grandfathered Plans
Kathryn Nix /
The Department of Health and Human Services has rolled out regulations governing health plans in effect prior to the passage of Obamacare. You know, the plans that “if you like it, you can keep it?”
The new regs will mostly affect the 170 million-plus Americans who carry employer-sponsored coverage. The vast majority of them (82 percent) are satisfied with their current coverage.
The new regs will make it tough for a lot of those folks to hold onto their current plans, even though the Department of Health and Human Services continues to claim otherwise. That because HHS is ready to revoke the “grandfathered” status of existing plans whenever an employer makes what it deems to be a “significant” change in terms of coverage. And the HHS regs show that common adjustments such as an increase in deductibles or co-pays or a reduction in benefits would be considered “significant.” (more…)