Employers Wrestle Over Methodology For Obamacare-Mandated Insurance Rebates
By John Ostapkovich
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- A facet of federal health care reform may result in more money in your pocket.
Larger group health insurance plans which didn't meet the Obamacare threshold of spending 85 percent of premiums on patient care have to refund the difference.
Christine Lloyd, executive director of human resources at Widener University, is trying to find an equitable way to do that for the approximately 500 covered employees at Widener qualifying for a refund.
"Employers have the choice of either giving a 'premium holiday,' where the employees would not have to pay the premiums for that certain time; to reimburse employees directly; or to apply the difference to the next plan-year's premiums," Lloyd explains.
She says the work is complicated by people who change plans or jobs -- meaning there's no one-size-fits-all formula -- and a lack of guidance on how fast to make this happen.
(She's leaning toward "ASAP.")
