Health Care Overhaul: When and How It Will Affect You (Part 2)

April 9, 2010

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The following is from a timeline of implementation dates produced by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation for when some of the key provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act will take effect. This is a continuation of last week’s newsletter, which outlined the changes from the years 2010 through 2013:

2014

Individual and Employer Requirements:

• Require U.S. citizens and legal residents to have qualifying health coverage (phase-in tax penalty for those without coverage).
• Assess employers with more than 50 employees that do not offer coverage and have at least one full-time employee who receives a premium tax credit a fee of $2000 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 employees from the assessment.

Insurance Reforms:

• Create state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges and Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) Exchanges, administered by a government agency or non-profit organization, through which individuals and small businesses with up to 100 employees can purchase qualified coverage.
• Limit any waiting periods for coverage to 90 days.

Premium Subsidies:

Provide refundable and advanceable premium credits and cost sharing subsidies to eligible individuals and families with incomes between 133-400% FPL to purchase insurance through the Exchanges.

Medicare:

• Reduce the out-of-pocket amount that qualifies an enrollee for catastrophic coverage in Medicare Part D (effective through 2019).
• Require Medicare Advantage plans to have medical loss ratios no lower than 85%.

2015 and later

Tax Changes:

• Impose an excise tax on insurers of employer-sponsored health plans with aggregate values that exceed $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for family coverage (Effective January 1, 2018).

The attorneys at Oast & Hook, P.C., are currently studying the Act in order to better incorporate its provisions into estate and long-term care planning for clients to ensure clients don’t run out of money during retirement. For more information on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, visit the following websites:

Oast & Hook, P.C.: www.oasthook.com
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: www.kff.org/healthreform/8060.cfm
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: www.healthreform.gov

Ask Allie

O&H: Allie, we’ve heard a great story about the ‘no-kill’ shelter in Raleigh, North Carolina. Please tell us about it.

Allie: Sure! Pam Miller fostered barn cats in her neighborhood in 1992. She borrowed traps, had the cats spayed or neutered, fostered the cats, and found each cat a new home. She then began operating out of her garage with some help from her neighbors, and fostered and found homes for nearly 400 cats over the next five years. She officially started SAFE Haven for Cats in 1994 with $800 that she saved in a jar. SAFE Haven for Cats was the area’s first no-kill shelter, and has grown to occupy a 3,600 square-foot office space in an office building, with 125 volunteers and 7 employees. The group rescues, fosters and adopts about 500 cats a year. They also run a low-cost spay and neuter clinic, which sterilizes 1,600 cats every year, and Ms. Miller still fosters orphaned kittens in her home. She encourages people to volunteer with no-kill shelters in their communities, or to start their own rescue group. I’m glad there are people like Ms. Miller our there rescuing homeless animals and finding new homes for them—like my family at Oast & Hook did for me. Happy Spring! See you next week!

Announcements

Oast & Hook is proud to announce that is has partnered with TowneBank to offer a series of seminars for seniors and their families. Each seminar will cover issues facing our seniors such as planning for retirement, elder law, Medicare, and long-term care planning. Oast & Hook and TowneBank will present six seminars, and each seminar will begin at 10:00 a.m. and will end at noon. Below is the list of dates and locations. Seating is limited. If you have any questions or would like to register for any of these seminars, then please phone Carol Hernandez at 757-638-6797.

April 14, 2010
TowneBank, Member Service Center
6001 Harbour View Boulevard
Suffolk, Virginia 23435

April 15, 2010
Harbor’s Edge
1 Colley Avenue
Norfolk, Virginia 23510

April 20, 2010
TowneBank, Oyster Point Banking Center
1 Old Oyster Point Road
Newport News, Virginia 23602

April 27, 2010
TowneBank, Great Bridge Community Hall
137 Mount Pleasant Road
Chesapeake, Virginia 23322

April 28, 2010
TowneBank, New Town Banking Center
5216 Monticello Avenue
Williamsburg, Virginia 23188

Sandra Smith will be the guest speaker on National Healthcare Directives Day, April 16, 2010, at Westminster Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay, 3100 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, Virginia from 1:30pm until 2:30pm.

Distribution of This Newsletter

Oast & Hook encourages you to share this newsletter with anyone who is interested in issues pertaining to the elderly, the disabled and their advocates. The information in this newsletter may be copied and distributed, without charge and without permission, but with appropriate citation to Oast & Hook, P.C. If you are interested in a free subscription to the Oast & Hook News, then please e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , telephone us at 757-399-7506, or fax us at 757-397-1267.

This newsletter is not intended as a substitute for legal counsel. While every precaution has been taken to make this newsletter accurate, we assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages resulting from the use of the information in this newsletter.