Ballard Spahr's health care reform team is focusing on five primary areas:
- Employer-based health care coverage
- Health information technology funding requirements
- Fraud and abuse developments
- Changes to industry regulations and reimbursement
- Issues for tax-exempt organizations
Because all employers are affected by the federal health care reform bill signed into law by President Obama in 2010, our team's efforts are focused on the following aspects of the law:
- Immediate and long-term impact on employer-sponsored group health plans
- Employer plan-required benefits, dependent coverage, and reporting requirements
- Employer and individual mandates; employee and small-employer subsidies
- Part D and employer plan subsidies; retiree group health
- Wellness and prevention programs and incentives
- Health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, and transition provisions
- Provider regulation and reimbursement changes
- Health information technology and electronic medical records
- Multiple-employer welfare arrangements; government and church plans
- New requirements for charitable hospitals
Aspen Publishers commissioned our attorneys to author the 2010-2012 editions of the Employer's Guide to Health Care Reform. Authors Brian M. Pinheiro and Jean C. Hemphill strive to ease employer confusion over health care reform. Their practical resource details the immediate changes for employment-based health benefit plans, identifies cost-saving opportunities for employers, and addresses employer and employee mandates and health care exchanges, among other issues.
Our attorneys have also assisted employers with the changes through a series of webinars and live programs, offered to audiences nationwide, and prepared presentations for clients tailored to their individual questions and needs. In addition, throughout the year they have updated clients via e-mail with legal alerts analyzing legislative developments.
