May 17, 2012

2011 Budget Deal Includes Changes to PPACA

The 2011 budget agreement just passed by U.S. Congress on April 14, 2011, contains provisions that repeal and de-fund certain provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act  (as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010)   (PPACA).

Specifically, the “free choice voucher” program mandated under Section 10108 of  PPACA has been repealed.  The free choice voucher provision of PPACA required employers to provide vouchers for workers whose employer-provided health insurance premiums cost between 8 percent and 9.8 percent of the worker’s family income.  The vouchers could then have been used by the worker to purchase insurance in the private market or in the exchanges.

In addition, the 2011 budget agreement rescinds $2.2 billion of the $6 billion in start-up funding provided for the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan program created under Section 1322 of PPACA and also rescinds $3.5 billion in performance bonus payments authorized in the 2009 State Children’s Health Insurance Program reauthorization.

© 2012 McDermott Will & Emery

About the Author

Partner

Amy Gordon is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Chicago office.  She focuses her practice on the areas of welfare benefits, including self-funded and insured health plans. She assists clients in designing and maintaining compliant flexible benefit, life, medical, dental, pharmacy, EAP, educational assistance, disability, supplemental health, severance, Health Savings Accounts, Health Reimbursement Accounts, and other types of welfare plans.  She counsels clients with respect to HIPAA, ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code...

312-984-6931

About the Author

Partner

Susan M. Nash is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Chicago office.  Susan focuses her practice primarily in the area of health and welfare benefit plans, including compliance with COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA, the Affordable Care Act, the Internal Revenue Code, and other federal laws affecting group health plans.

312-984-7660

Contributors

Counsel

Maureen O'Brien is counsel in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in the Firm’s Chicago office.  She focuses her practice on advising clients on a broad range of employee benefits matters, including qualified plan design, welfare plan design, employee benefit plan compliance issues, fiduciary matters, multiemployer pension plan issues and nonqualified deferred compensation plans.

312-984-3242

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