Exchanges

The House has agreed to pass legislation that makes possible a repeal of the ACA’s controversial expansion of the definition of a small employer — a bill hailed by the benefits industry for protecting the small and mid-size businesses they feel the expansion threatens to harm.

Health Republic Insurance of New York, the Affordable Care Act insurer that got $265 million in U.S. loans, will stop selling policies and eventually cease operations under orders from New York and federal regulators.

Commentary: HHS is starting to roll out the second phase of HIPAA audits, and now is the time for employers to assess compliance with HIPAA’s security rule. If your organization is selected for a Phase II Audit, are you ready?

Health insurance carriers have not poached healthier customers from the exchanges for plans sold outside the exchanges, which some feared would lead to adverse selection in the public exchange market, concludes a recent issue brief.

Commentary: The employer community has made its voice clear on the Affordable Care Act’s excise tax. Legislators seem to have heard. Will it make a difference?

While Uber is fighting hard on all fronts to prove its drivers are correctly characterized as independent contractors, there are examples of other successful app-driven on-demand start-ups that have either converted contractors to employee status or characterized all workers as employees from the get-go.

Fitness device maker Fitbit now will enter into HIPAA business associate agreements with corporations, health plans and self-insured employers that want to offer its wellness platform to employees.

The share of people without health insurance in the U.S. fell to 10.4 percent last year as the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of public and private coverage programs took effect.

Despite eligibility for cost-sharing reductions, more than 2 million public exchange enrollees did not select eligible plans.

In the first year of open enrollment on its private benefit exchange, brokerage Lovitt & Touché made some mistakes. But the firm won’t be repeating them, says the Phoenix-based brokerage’s senior vice president.