Benefits Buzz
As a reminder, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) created a research institute known as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The goal of PCORI is to help patients and those who care for them make better-informed decisions about healthcare choices.
If you’re familiar with the individual health insurance market, you should be aware that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) made significant changes to the application and enrollment processes starting in 2014.
Making Plan Changes During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Needless to say, these last several weeks have created challenging times for a significant number of employers. Stay-at-home orders and other impacts from the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic have put many employers in a position where they must make sudden health plan and benefit changes.
The short answer is that they are both defined contribution plans.
The Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) is an employer-sponsored defined contribution health plan whereas a 401(k) is a defined contribution retirement plan.
Many insurance carriers are offering up a limited time special enrollment period due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Call it a midyear open enrollment period if you will. No qualifying event is necessary to enroll in the group health plan. Many insurance carriers (at the discretion of the employer) are allowing employees to join the group health plan if they waived coverage during the employer’s typical open enrollment period. This comes as good news for many employees.
