The federal health law brings many big changes to the nation’s health system; in some ways the changes are spelled out in detail in the law, and in other ways we learn about them only as implementation proceeds.
As KHN’s Julie Appleby reported in April, and the New York Times reported yesterday, the law’s cap on out-of-pocket costs of $6,350 for individuals and $12,500 for families will not be enforced for some employer-based health insurance plans until 2015. Michelle Andrews followed the story KHN in June with more detail for consumers.
The Times played its story on page A1, which brought it to the attention of congressional Republicans, who blasted the move as one more reason the whole law should be delayed or repealed.
The measure, which is meant to give relief to some consumers with employer coverage and very high drug costs, will be more complicated to implement for employers who assemble health coverage plans from multiple insurers. Those employers have been given more time to comply with the new rule, so their employees will have to wait until 2015 for relief from high out-of-pocket costs. Others potentially affected by the delay won’t see higher costs, though, because many employer plans already have caps well below the law’s new limits. Furthermore, there is no delay on out-of-pocket maximums that will apply to all new plans sold on Obamacare exchanges and new plans in the employer market.
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KHN continued to cover the story Tuesday with our partner NPR. KHN’s Julie Appleby appeared on “Here & Now,” and you can listen to that segment on the Here & Now website, clicking on “Another Obamacare Delay” in the audio player.
KHN’s Sarah Varney filed a story for “All Things Considered,” which you can listen to below.
Date: August 14th, 2013
