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Michelle Andrews provides an overview for Kaiser Health News of the Affordable Care Act regulations that impact employer plans, and how these might change under a repeal or replacement of the act.

Since election day, the future of healthcare in the US has been unpredictable, to say the least. More aptly, the healthcare industry is in a state of chaotic uncertainty with many unanswerable questions, and a lack of clarity and real solutions from the new administration (save a repeated promise to repeal the ACA – without any solid plans for a replacement).

While the future of the ACA hangs in the balance, the fact remains that the law is still in existence until those critical decisions are made. As such, ACA mandates and regulations – both old and new – need to be strictly adhered to.
Below is a quick round up of changes to the ACA that are coming down the pike for 2017… at least for the foreseeable future.

Beth Braverman reports on the top five healthcare trends in 2017 in this article for The Fiscal Times. She notes that "the American health care system faces massive uncertainty heading into 2017," as more Americans gain coverage but fewer can afford it.

The IRS has extended the due dates for furnishing 2016 Forms 1095-B and 1095-C to covered individuals and full-time employees, respectively, from January 31, 2017, to March 2, 2017. In addition, the IRS is also extending good faith penalty relief to reporting entities who can show they made good faith efforts to comply with the calendar year 2016 information reporting requirements. However, the deadline to file 2016 Forms 1094-B, 1095-B, 1094-C, and 1095-C with the IRS was not extended, and remains February 28, 2017 (or March 31, 2017, if filing electronically). Source: HR360

Kristen Rasmussen recently wrote for Benefits Pro about what companies need to do to prepare for the possible repeal of, or dramatic changes to, the Affordable Care Act.

Drew Altman writes on increasing deductible costs, “which are transforming the nature of health insurance from more comprehensive coverage to skimpier insurance with higher out-of-pocket costs.” 

Benjamin D. Sommers takes a look at why the annual Spring panic around premium increases for ACA marketplace plans is “overblown.” The fact that most increases will be reduced before open enrollment and that most consumers received premium tax credits are both cited as reasons the initial proposed increases are not a big deal.

Read the full article on The New England Journal of Medicine.

"With health care costs jumping in 2016, Americans should prepare for the unexpected," writes Lucy Mueller for Forbes.