Implementing the Inscrutable: What Are Collection Agencies Doing About the Affordable Care Act?

Stephanie Eidelman

A few weeks ago I received a notice from Paychex (our health plan administrator) — or was that CareFirst (our health plan provider)? — explaining (at least that’s how they positioned it) that I may have the option to “grandfather” our healthcare plan, if I meet certain criteria. Typically when you get to grandfather something, that’s a good thing. It means you get out of something: paying more, jumping through hoops, adhering to new rules, etc. In this case it’s not so clear. I don’t think it’s clear to them either — Paychex or CareFirst, or whoever else “they” might be.

Both organizations claim that you can call with questions; neither is capable of answering them when you do. They suggest getting legal and financial advice from my professional advisors. I’m not so high on paying hundreds of dollars an hour to try to understand whether I should fill out a grandfather form. Something also tells me they also wouldn’t quite know definitively what the best answer is. By the way, the form — which is thankfully very short — is incredibly unclear, so someone will need to wait on hold for about 30 minutes just to sort that out.

Recognizing that most companies in the ARM industry will wrestle with this same issue in one way or another, I started wondering about your plans as we get deeper into the implementation of The Affordable Care Act (interesting timeline here: http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html). One agency owner I spoke with recently says he is considering eliminating health coverage for his employees (offering a higher base pay instead), because they will be able to get better coverage through an Exchange. Are you planning to make similar changes? Please respond to this quick poll, and if you have other questions you’d like us to ask your peers, please submit them below as a comment, or email me privately at stephanie@kaulkin.com.