UPMC Spring 2016 Kickoff- Their Plan of Attack 

The benefits world has been alive with non-ACA extension chatter. With every renewal cycle rumors are leaked in regards to when and how long employers can stay on their non-ACA plans. Since the Affordable Care Act has been introduced, it seems like the law is in constant change. Every renewal cycle, we as brokers patiently wait to see is going to be revealed to us.

For the past few years we have been planning the October 1, 2016 renewal cycle would be the last to remain non-ACA, with the hope that groups who renew in November and December would have the opportunity to renew early.  That would then allow groups to remain in a non-ACA plan until October 2017 when they would ultimately move to an ACA plan.  Recently there was a change made at the federal level and then ultimately in the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to now allow groups to be in a non-ACA compliant plan until December 31, 2017.  That means that groups MUST be in an ACA plan by January 1, 2018.

According to UPMC they will be offering renewal options in November and December of 2017 and the plans will run 14 and 13 months respectively. Then the plans will renew January 1, 2018 to an ACA plan. With this change we are left with a few unanswered questions like, “Do deductibles reset at the initial renewal (in November or December)?” or “How many visits does an individual get for things like chiro or PT if the year is a month or two longer?”

While we may not have all the answers today, we know in the insurance world things change quickly so as soon as we know anything new, we’ll blog it!