6/10/2013 4:06 PM
Just wondering as we get closer to implementation, how is it going for yourselves (and spouses) and your courses? I don't know if our good news is so much because of the ACA, some of it might be the city encouraging HRA's and then allowing city employees and their families if they so chose to pay for 25% of gym memberships or tennis memberships, and the city picking up 25% and the parks department waving or picking up the other 50%. The value of the membership is on our W-2's.
Just got our monthly newsletter from the city and this is the second time that our health insurance premium hasn't gone up. I will say we are a self-funded group, that according to city ordinance must have 6 months of recommended reserves, (covering at least 6 months of claims and expenses). Starting in May of 2006 due to not having the recommended reserves we started getting increases every June of 3%, then every December a 2%. The first time we didn't have a raise in premium was in December of 2012. The city does pick up 100% of the employee, and the employee pays 100% of their family if they choose to have them on the plan. The city has done a few ACA things early then needed, such as the children up to age 26 last summer could stay on the plan. We are already covering some of the preventive care items, (see Red's post), the city used to be allowed to turn down people with pre-existing conditions, (self funded programs of not profit's could do that, the city would not cover someone for a year, then start covering them. Thank god it didn't apply to prescriptions) they now accept people with pre-existing conditions. Deductibles and out of pockets yearly have pretty much stayed the same, and now there isn't the max which used to be 2 million.
I just ask because I keep seeing all the different headlines and probably each with a different agenda. I would really like to know if this is the doomsday deal that some say it is. I will say, there were some small businesses here in SW MO. that collectively got together to purchase health insurance as a group for their employees and the ACA was not allowing them to continue, that is something I would like to see that they would be offered a waiver to allow them to continue, so that is one strike against the ACA, if our congressman would push for it maybe it would get done?
Mel
Melvin H. Waldron III, CGCS, Horton Smith Golf Course, City of Springfield/Greene County MO