…Until Obamacare begins. The individual exchange markets, a key provision under the federal health law, are supposed to open for enrollment on October 1, 2013. It is through these exchanges where individuals and families may purchase federally qualified health plans and qualify for sliding-scale subsidies depending on annual household income.
Now that the employer mandate reporting requirements have been unilaterally delayed until 2015, employers may continue to offer the same insurance plans to employees, whether or not it’s federally qualified. Or employers may simply drop their employees’ health insurance, dumping them on the individual exchange. Until 2015, the Obama Administration has announced that employers may voluntarily submit reporting information to the IRS indicating that qualified health care coverage is offered to workers.
However, this voluntary reporting requirement may generate more unintended consequences and higher premiums under the federal health law. Michael Tanner, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, explains why. Click here to listen, please.
