From the rancorous debate over the overhaul to the nation's healthcare system in Congress to the troubled implementation of the law, the ACA often seems to pose more questions than it can answer to individuals seeking to purchase individual health insurance policies.
In some ways, ObamaCare may be even more perplexing to the employers of all sizes that have important decisions to make about what types of coverage (if any) they will provide to their workers under the fledgling law.
Recently, the Obama Administration announced that certain existing insurance plans that don't meet the ACA's rigorous requirements to provide affordable care will be grandfathered in for another two years. In addition, a key touchstone of the program – that larger companies need to provide coverage for their employees or pay a penalty – has been delayed from this year, first to 2015 and, most recently, to 2016. And there were further deadline extensions and tweaks to the program unveiled as well (See the Wall Street Journal's recent coverage here.)
As a result, the continual fluctuations in the PPACA rollout have kept health insurers, consumers and employers alike on their toes; not to mention scratching their heads.
But there's good news on that front for HR professionals. The business software powerhouse Sage –which provides software products and solutions for businesses in areas such as HR, payroll, accounting and ERP across a broad swath of industries – has unveiled a brand-new resource (Sage HRMS) designed to answer your questions and clear up some of the confusion surrounding the Affordable Care Act.
The Health Benefits Explained Library offers handy tools like FAQs, "infographics," as well as more in-depth training programs (both live and on-demand) on benefits for employees and, crucially, impact-focused training on the PPACA for employers and HR professionals. The library features comprehensive, cost-effective services it advertises as, well, affordable.
Will it answer all of your questions on the ACA? Time will tell, but it sure seems like a good place to start.