Health care policies have bipartisan support in DC

Bipartisan support for health care policies exists in Congress, even though it’s uncertain whether any major health care legislation will be passed this year. Most congressional action on health care is taking place on the committee level, with a wide range of legislation being advanced.

That was among the highlights of a recent Mercer update on legislation and regulation impacting health care policies and retirement benefits.

“The outlook is unclear on how this might come together in a final package or what vehicle they might ride on,” said Geoff Manville of Mercer’s Law and Policy Group on the chances of any health-related legislation being moved out of committee. He added that Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., “wants to put a unified health care package on the floor this year, so we could see something moving.”

A rundown of legislation currently in either House or Senate committees, Manville said, include the following issues:

• Prescription drug pricing. Pharmacy benefit manager reforms, speeding generic drugs to market and establishing out-of-pocket caps for insulin in the commercial insurance market.
• Increasing competition and addressing provider consolidation. Restricting anti-competitive contract terms between providers and plans, and stopping provider billing practices that inflate costs.
• Mental health. Expanding access to mental health and substance abuse disorder care, ensuring network adequacy, addressing the health care workforce shortage, and strengthening mental health parity enforcement.
• Extending COVID-19 telehealth relief for high-deductible health plans paired with health savings accounts, and expanding pandemic-related relief for standalone telehealth and making it permanent.

Bipartisan support for retirement policy

Retirement policy also remains a bipartisan issue on Capitol Hill, Manville said, with the retirement policy spotlight shifting to the regulatory agenda. Retirement policy issues under consideration include:

• The Biden budget wants curbs on Roth conversions and a cap on tax-preferred savings.
• Retirement-related ways to raise federal revenue will continue to be attractive to both parties.
• Bipartisan House legislation would permit 403(b) plans to invest in collective trusts.
• A final rule on environmental, social and governance investment is safe for now as a Republican effort to repeal it fails.
• Increased House oversight activity may spotlight concerns about the Department of Labor’s agenda. The ESG rule, the definition of fiduciary, the qualified professional asset manager proposal and cybersecurity may be targets.

Medicaid unwinding

The Medicaid continuous enrollment provision expired at the end of March and states must begin redetermining Medicaid enrollees’ eligibility. Jennifer Wiseman, principal with Mercer’s Law and Policy Group, said employees or dependents losing Medicaid or CHIP coverage have a 60-day HIPAA special enrollment right to enroll in an employer’s health plan.

In addition, she said, federal agencies encourage employers to:

• Adopt a longer special enrollment period after first obtaining permission from their insurer or stop-loss carrier.
• Educate their benefits staff about Medicaid redeterminations.
• Make sure those who are affected by the unwinding know their options.
• Encourage employees to update their contact information with their state Medicaid or CHIP agency and respond to any communication they receive from that agency.

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at Susan.Rupe@innfeedback.com. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at susan.rupe@innfeedback.com.