by Jentry Nourse,
AP/AR Coordinator

For months now the only think anyone has been talking about is Healthcare. Now that the bill has passed, it seems like everyone is wondering …..”what does this mean for me? And, how will my company/employer be affected?”

I was able to attend a webinar just 1 day after the Healthcare Bill was signed into law. It was offered through our benefits provider and, in an attempt to gain more knowledge on the upcoming changes, our HR Department attended. The webinar was conducted by Janet Trautwein, CEO of NAHU (National Association of Healthcare Underwriters.) Janet briefly went through the signed Healthcare Bill noting that a Reconciliation Bill would be proposed by the house and that the immediate impact could not be 

Timelines for these changes are easy to find and most of them show changes to the laws being implemented over the next 9 years to allow for the phasing in of the new changes and phasing out of the old procedures. The details are simply not outlined yet, making it hard to determine what the short term and long term effect will be.

With our benefits open enrollment just around the corner (July), we are actively looking at the upcoming changes and what they mean for our company and our employees, both short term and long term 

The next few months will be full of meetings with our providers to determine what we can do to keep healthcare premiums at a minimum as well as how to make healthcare work harder for our employees. Being able to provide a comprehensive benefits package is one of our top priorities. In order to successfully do this, it’s important to know what concerns / questions they have.

• What questions/concerns do you have with the newly passed Healthcare Bill?
• What do you like/dislike about our current benefits?
• What are your biggest concerns for the future of healthcare?