494 pages of guidance on 62 pages of new final regulations that impact employer sponsored group health plans. This will not be easy nor cheap!
The final rules set forth requirements for group health plans and health insurance issuers in the individual and group markets to disclose cost-sharing information upon request to a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee (or his or her authorized representative), including an estimate of the individual's cost-sharing liability for covered items or services furnished by a particular provider. Under the final rules, plans and issuers are required to make this information available on an internet website and, if requested, in paper form, thereby allowing a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee (or his or her authorized representative) to obtain an estimate and understanding of the individual's out-of-pocket expenses and effectively shop for items and services. The final rules also require plans and issuers to disclose in-network provider negotiated rates, historical out-of-network allowed amounts, and drug pricing information through three machine-readable files posted on an internet website, thereby allowing the public to have access to health coverage information that can be used to understand health care pricing and potentially dampen the rise in health care spending.
Employers do have time to implement the new regulations over the next few years as there is a large amount of work providers and employers are going to need to do to start reporting the group health plans information to plan participants.
We can help you with these new reporting requirements and provide the guidance to circumvent the opaqueness of the new regulations requirements for reporting such transparency.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.