The Energy and Commerce Committee has been busy, busy, busy

The March 13 hearing attempted to analyze the impact of health reform on job availability and employer-sponsored health coverage. Witnesses included Diana Furchtgott-Roth, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Tom Boucher, owner of Great New Hampshire Restaurants Inc., who testified on behalf of the National Restaurant Association, and Linda Blumberg, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. 

During the hearing, GOP representatives argued that uncertainty about health reform implementation is leading to hesitation by employers to hire. They discussed the potential for 49ers and 29ers—employers that try to stay under the 50 full-time equivalent threshold to avoid the shared responsibility requirements or try to hold employees to a 29-hour-a-week or less average to avoid offering them coverage. Meanwhile, Democratic ranking member Henry Waxman defended the law, citing millions of new jobs created and claiming dire assertions are unfounded. You can watch the highlights of the proceedings here.

The March 14 letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius expressed concern about the proposed applications for health insurance exchange coverage that were released in January. (NAHU expressed similar concerns in a letter dated February 28.) The Energy and Commerce Committee letter was signed by Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Vice Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX), Heath Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Vice Chairman of the Health and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittees Michael C. Burgess (R-TX).

Among other things, the letter states that the draft health insurance exchange applications “are troubling for several reasons. First the applications request information not easily available to most Americans, including information on their employers’ health plans that most employees would have difficulty obtaining. For example, it is unlikely most Americans would be able to determine which of their employer health plans meet the ‘minimal value standard’ as defined by PPACA.” The members requested HHS provide a briefing and additional information on HHS’ process for reviewing applications by March 29, so stay tuned.

As for today’s hearing on coverage affordability, the witnesses will be Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former director of the Congressional Budget Office, Christopher Carlson, actuarial principal at Oliver Wyman, and Wendell Potter, the senior analyst at the Center for Public Integrity. We expect that the impact of age rating for small employers and the new looming national health insurance premium tax on all fully insured group and individual policies will be a focus. Now would be a great time to send your lawmakers an email asking them to sign on to Representative Gingrey’s LIBERTY Act bill to address the impact of the age-rating provision.

Source: NAHU Washington Update