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<< Return to Topic ListDependent CoverageUpdated 7/9/2009 Why Employers CareWith the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the requirement that beginning with the first plan year on or after September 23, 2010, group health plans that cover dependent children also must make such coverage available to adult children until they reach age 26, covering dependents has become much more complicated.In addition, employer health care costs are estimated to rise 6.5% in 2010*. As a result, employers need to determine ways to control health care costs as those dependents who would have initially dropped out of their health plans remain on for several more years. What Can Employers Do?Dependent eligibility audits have been a tool used by employers as a way to identify those dependents who are ineligible and should no longer be covered. Although the enactment of PPACA changes the criteria for coverage, dependent eligibility audits can still be a valuable tool for employers to identify those dependents once they reach the age of 26. In addition, many employers have implemented spousal surcharges as a way to control costs. According to the Mercer’s 2009 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, 5% of employers with greater than 500 employees had a surcharge in place in 2009 and another 5% plan to add that in 2010.^
Solutions Online *National Business Group on Health/Towers Watson, 15th Annual Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care, 2010. ^Mercer, National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, 2009. |
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