As communicated in previous blog posts, the September 2010 Benefits Update and the upcoming November 2010 Benefits Update, the first changes to the AFTRA Health Plan required under the new health reform law become effective Dec. 1, 2010. As a reminder, those Plan changes are listed below with links to the original blog posts. Refer the September 2010 and November 2010 Benefits Updates for complete information, and if you have additional questions, contact ...

Under the new health reform law, health plans may no longer impose annual benefit maximums for overall health benefits. The law also restricts plans’ ability to apply annual dollar maximums to specific types of benefits that are deemed “essential.” While the AFTRA Health Plan does not have an annual overall benefit maximum, the Plan does currently include annual dollar maximums for three specific benefits deemed essential under the new law. Effective Dec. 1, 2010, the ...

At this time, we do know of certain changes that will be made to the AFTRA Health Plan later this year to comply with the health care reform law and regulations. Listed in this post are brief descriptions of these changes. Watch for additional details in the next Benefits Update to be published later this summer.

While the health care reform legislation enacted in March 2010 establishes the framework for national health care reform, the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services are responsible for writing detailed regulations required to implement the new laws.