D'oh Guess We Should Have Thought of That: A Lesson in Unintended Consequences

I am not sure where this falls really... lack of foresight, the bigger picture was more important, guess we should have read those 2000 pages more carefully... I decided to use Homer Simpson's "D'oh" as the best expression. I am sure you are wonder what the hell I am talking about. Well this is it.. a news headline that read "Citing health overhaul, AARP hikes employee costs". The article then starts off

"AARP's endorsement helped secure passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. Now the seniors' lobby is telling its employees their insurance costs will rise partly as a result of the law....In an e-mail to employees, AARP says health care premiums will increase by 8 percent to 13 percent next year because of rapidly rising medical costs.....And AARP adds that it's changing copayments and deductibles to avoid a 40 percent tax on high-cost health plans that takes effect in 2018 under the law...Shifting costs to employees lowers the value of a health care plan and acts like an escape hatch from the tax."

This is AARP's attempt to avoid being classified as a "Cadillac Plan". As writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP states in the article "...employers are already beginning to assess their potential exposure because it is hefty: at 40 percent of the value above $10,200 for individual coverage and $27,500 for a family plan. The tax is intended as a savings measure, to prod employers and workers into more cost-efficient plans."

David Certner, the legislative affairs director for AARP, said that they make public policy decisions without regard to the effect it might have on their own employees. So the employees are going to be getting an 8% to 13% increase in their insurance costs and more will be coming.

Hmmm... I wonder what the enthusiasm for healthcare reform is now with those employees and how do they feel about the organization pushing public policy without regard to their well being?

An alternative seniors group to AARP, the Seniors League, says that Health Care Reform Legislation Could Hurt Seniors. They make two points about healthcare: 1. Shaky Medicare Financing: The bill will not shore up Medicare’s financing, despite claims to the contrary; and  2. Reduced Access to Care: Seniors may have reduced access to medical care as providers experience cuts and go out of business.

With the mid-term elections having changed the power structure in Congress it will be interesting to see what happends with healthcare reform. I just hope whatever is done they look at what the "unintended consequences" could potentially be of either allowing the bill to go unchanged or by changing the bill.
 
Sometimes I think we often miss that part of thinking.

Exposing Breasts in the Workplace: Part of Healthcare!

Ok now that I have your attention, get your mind out of the gutter. This has to deal with the Healthcare bill. The Healthcare Bill, officially, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the "fix-it" bill being signed today, contains a broad spectrum of issues to which we must pay attention. The items are diverse and include not just insurance regulations, but also requirements to post caloric values of foods by all fast food restaurants, taxes on medical devices and drugs, taxes on Medicare wages and even a revamping of the Pell Grant program. (Explain the healthcare implications of that one for me!)

One of the little known aspects of the PPACA is the requirement for companies to provide unpaid breastfeeding breaks. This is an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and "....requires employers to provide reasonable, unpaid break time to employees who are nursing mothers to express breast milk for their infants. The Act amends section 207 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and requires an employer to provide a reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has need to express the milk. The employer shall also make reasonable efforts to provide a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from co-workers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk." (Source: Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLC Client Alert, March 25, 2010.)

Employers of fewer than 50 employees are exempt from this amendment if "...such breaks would 'impose an undue hardship by causing the employer significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to the size, financial resources, nature, or structure of the employer's business.'" Hmmm... how do you really deny this one regardless of the size of the company?

One challenge here is recording of this time so you can make it non-paid. I think it would cost more to attend to the recording of time than it would be to just allow the mothers the time to perform this act. So a possible solution is just make it paid break time. But of course then you will have to deal with all the whinny men and women who don't get this paid break time. However, it would put them on par with all the smokers who take unathorized breaks to get their fix.

Anyone have a suggestion on what is going to be the best way to deal with this? I am all ears.

Healthcare Reform: Get In On the Debate

Ann Bares over at Compensation Force posted on HR Pros: Make Your Voice Heard in the Healthcare Reform Debate. This is a call for "people in the know" to have some input on the legislative process. READ THIS and DO SOMETHING! If we do not help guide this debate we run the risk of having to deal with a MAJOR DISASTER OF A BILL.

Of course such a bill might be good for the longterm employment prospects of benefits specialists, so you decide whether you want in the fray. But for all of you who have complained in the past of NOT BEING PROACTIVE here is your opportunity.

Step up. It is ok to express an opinion. If nothing else at least study the issues.