Kaiser Health News (02/23/15) Jay Hancock
On Feb. 20, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that health plans without substantial coverage of hospital and physician services do not meet the Affordable Care Act’s standard for “minimum value” coverage, meaning employers offering these plans are subject to fines of $3,000 or more per worker. Many employers in the staffing, retail, restaurant, and hotel industries, in particular, that had not previously provided health insurance flocked to these plans for 2015, which the department allowed for this year only, provided contracts had been signed by Nov. 4.