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.
Federal regulations are published in stages. First, interim or proposed regulations are issued. Then comments are solicited from industry organizations, companies and the general public during a comment period. Lastly, final regulations are published. From start to finish, the entire process takes several months or, in some cases, even years. While this is a standard process for implementing any new federal law, the new health reform laws are especially dependent on regulations to provide necessary details to “complete the picture.”
At this point in time, only a few final health care reform regulations have been published by federal agencies. But many important regulations are expected to be issued in the coming weeks and months.
It’s important to note that different types of health plans will be affected differently under the new laws (the AFTRA Health Plan is a self-insured multiemployer plan). However, all health plans nationwide will be required to make changes under the new laws, and most of these plans are in a similar position of waiting for regulatory guidance before making changes.
The AFTRA Health Plan will enact plan changes as and when required under the new law and regulations. Some of these plan changes will become effective later this year, and others will not be implemented for several years.
Please be assured that AFTRA H&R will always provide notice to participants in writing of any changes to the Health Plan, so participants should watch their mailbox and this Web site for Benefits Updates related to the Health Plan. Also visit this blog for the most recent news, updates and information about the health care reform process and the AFTRA Health Plan.