PPACA, re-named the Affordable Care Act, has some fast-approaching effective dates. September 23, 2010, all plans, including self-funded, fully-funded individual and group plans will no longer have lifetime limits. This will apply only to policies renewing after 9/23/2010 until the full cycle is complete.
This means that if your renewal is not until next March, that will be when you will no longer have a lifetime limit. The caveat is that up to January, 2014, the Dept of Health and Human Services may still define benefits it deems non-essential, and can prohibit them from being unlimited. After that, nothing will have a limit.
In addition, effective with renewals after 9/23, there will be no deductibles or co-pays for services which the DHHS lists as preventative. The list is said to contain over 500 procedures, and is still growing. Among them are colonoscopies, Pap tests, PSA tests, routine mammograms, bone density tests, immunizations, physicals, and tobacco cessation. We’ll also be seeing further implementation of the 26 and under group, who can return to their parents’ policy, even if they are married and live elsewhere.
I have no idea how we are going to pay for all this without raising taxes and/or premiums.
Stay tuned. There’s more to come.
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