Affordable Care Act: What Employers Need To Know

(Post was written by James McCarthy, Mainebiz)

Rick Dacri, owner of a Kennebunkport-based consulting firm that advises businesses on work force issues, says his client list ranges from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits employing fewer than 10 people. Whatever their size, he says, health care benefits and their costs have long been a front-burner issue for Maine employers.

Yet, when asked about the 5–4 Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, Dacri carefully sidesteps the political controversy that preceded the June 28 ruling and continues in its aftermath. He prefers to focus more on the practical steps employers need to take now that the law has been ruled constitutional.

“I don’t think it’s as big a deal as is being portrayed,” Dacri says, noting that most of his Maine clients, even the smaller companies, already provide health insurance to their employees. For them, he says, it’s an essential way to attract and keep quality employees.

Affordable Care Act: What HR Managers Need To Know

(Post written by James McCarthy, Mainebiz)

Kristine Avery, senior vice president of human resources at FISC Solutions in Lewiston, has four words of advice for HR managers now that the ACA has withstood its legal challenge: “Get informed, get educated.”

Avery, certified as a senior professional in human resources, quickly adds that there are plenty of resources available, including the Maine affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management, which she leads as state director.

While acknowledging the complicated mix of legal and political questions to be evaluated, Avery says there are some ACA highlights that HR managers should know now.

Marissa Mayer Didn’t Break Glass Ceiling

Marissa Mayer was named CEO of Yahoo. That’s exciting news. There are only a handful of female CEOs leading Fortune 500 companies today. The chatter in and outside the business world is not only that a woman was hired, but that they hired a young woman (she’s 37 and curiously, there has been little mention of the age of the “kids” who lead other technology firms—think Facebook) and a pregnant woman to boot. And why wouldn’t they hire Marissa Mayer? She’s bright, highly educated, successful, and was a superstar at Google.

But before you start thinking that the glass ceiling is finally broken, we also now learn that woman are lagging far behind men in getting new jobs in this so called post recession period. Since June 2009, men have landed 80% of the 2.6 million net jobs created in the U.S., including 61% this last year. The juxtaposition of these two headlines, Mayer’s hiring while women in general fall behind, gives us pause.

Marissa Mayer’s hiring is reason to celebrate. It is a significant personal and professional accomplishment for her and a major step for professional women. But the unevenness of our economic recovery points to the fact that a lot more work needs to be done before we can actually reach economic parity.

What Are You Reading?

People don’t read anymore. I hear this all the time and unfortunately see more and more evidence of it. The newspaper industry is struggling to redefine itself as readership plummets with advertising dollars following.

As a former paperboy (Worcester Sunday Telegram), I love reading newspapers and look forward everyday to getting my morning papers that I devour with a cup of coffee. Reading keeps me abreast of what’s going on in the world and is essential for my business success—who wants to work with a consultant who’s not aware and can’t carry on a conversation?

Here’s what I’m reading: every day I get my local paper, The Portland Press Herald and the Wall Street Journal (Saturday is my favorite issue as I enjoy reading Peggy Noonan’s op-ed. I rarely agree with her politics, but she writes so beautifully). On a weekly basis, I read the York County Coast Star (for purpose of self-disclosure, I write a monthly business column for the paper) and BusinessWeek magazine. On a monthly basis I read HR Magazine. On top of this, I read various blogs and get daily news and business updates on the Internet. I also read books and have fallen in love with Kindle, which I read on my iPad. If you want to view what I’ve read, I’ve posted them on my LinkedIn page.

 What are your thoughts on this? What are you reading? Comment below. For now, though, I’m writing this on Saturday morning so it’s now time to read Peggy Noonan’s column

Rick Dacri

Dacri  Associates, LLC

Affordable Care Act: What You Should Do

(This is a guest post written by Gary B. Kushner, for SHRM)

By a narrow 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) on the grounds that the individual mandate penalty is a tax. Because the Constitution clearly gives Congress the ability to impose a tax, the Court ruled, all of the other questions surrounding the mandate are moot.

In writing for the majority in the National Federation of Independent Business vs. Sebelius decision, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that, “The Affordable Care Act’s requirement that certain individuals pay a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax. Because the Constitution permits such a tax, it is not our role to forbid it, or to pass upon its wisdom or fairness.” Chief Justice Roberts was joined in the majority decision by Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

While the individual mandate was deemed by a majority of the Court to violate the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution, it was ruled constitutional because Congress has the authority to impose a tax on individuals who go without insurance.

What HR Professionals Should Do Now

Today’s ruling is clearly not the end of the debate over health care reform, but rather only the first act. U.S. health costs are projected to be significantly higher than the rest of the developed world, while health outcomes in the U.S. trail other industrialized nations – often badly. Providing expanded coverage, increasing the health status of our citizens, and better controlling costs are all goals that, while addressed in the PPACA, have a long way to go.

The ruling today sends a clear message — organizations need to review their plans and seize this opportunity to create better strategies around their health plans, both in design and employee communication.



For human resource professionals (and all organizations), the message here is very clear — move forward with implementing and complying with PPACA, since major portions of it take effect in 2014 (a mere 18 months away) and other provisions take effect later this year and in 2013. For example, many employers soon will be required to report the value of employer coverage on IRS Form W-2, and all employers must issue a summary of benefits and coverages. Employers who were waiting to begin planning on how to comply (or whether to even offer or continue to offer health coverage) need to begin performing quantitative and qualitative analyses on their plans. More importantly, they need to begin looking at their health plans as part of an overall HR strategy for their organizations.

Key steps employers need to take NOW to plan for 2014:

1. Determine the strategic implications of whether or not to offer a plan. Health benefits are just one part of an overall total rewards strategy.  How does an organization’s having (or not having) health benefits impact other talent acquisition and talent management strategies?
2. Review the Supreme Court decision as to its impact on your organization.
3. If a plan is offered, perform a qualitative analysis on whether it makes sense to remain a grandfathered plan or become nongrandfathered by examining the seven PPACA provisions that apply only to nongrandfathered plans.
4. Perform a qualitative analysis to determine if existing plans meet qualifying eligibility and affordability standards.  In order for employers to avoid potential penalties, ensure that any health plans offered meet both standards.
5. Determine the true organizational costs of either offering or not offering health coverage after 2013.  For many organizations, this is not the “no-brainer” that it may first appear.
6. Perform a quantitative analysis to project the so-called “Cadillac tax” set to begin in 2018.

For the HR professional, this is a golden opportunity to reassert the strategic contribution of HR as it impacts an organization’s ability to attract and retain the right talent.  Further, it is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime chance to position and communicate the value of the organization’s total rewards strategy.