Congress removed health care reform’s $2,000/$4,000 deductible limits as part of the annual Medicare physician payment bill that President Obama signed on April 1. Section 213 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 removes deductible limits for small-business health insurance policies from the reform law. Under the original law, small employer health plans could not provide deductible totals over $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families.
Observers said the change was good news for consumer-driven health plans, adding that employers will be more able to offer higher deductibles coordinated with health reimbursement arrangements, health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts. Others say the change will reduce the cost of health insurance for small business.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President for Government Affairs Bruce Josten supported the change in a letter dated March 31.
The Chamber maintains its concerns surrounding the affordability of health care coverage as implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continues. Repealing the annual limitation on deductibles would free up an important “lever” that employers need as they struggle to design affordable plans that meet the [law’s] requirements. In fact, the importance of this lever is clearly appreciated by the Department of Health and Human Services, which permitted plans to exceed this limit when it finalized regulations on Feb. 25, 2013. While the Chamber appreciates HHS’s actions given the statutory constraints, a more permanent and predictable solution is critical to ensure that employers can appropriately design affordable benefit offerings.
The Medicare Act marks yet another year that physicians avoid a pending 24-percent payment cut in payments for Medicare patients. An earlier physician payment fix failed partly because last-minute riders that would have weakened the reform law were attached. The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on March 27 with support from about 20 Democrats and virtually all Republicans, and after passing the Senate, it was signed into law.