Judges Rejection of Association Health Plans and the IBOUSA

Many of you might have seen the stories at the of last week  where a federal judge in Washington ruled the Trump administration’s push to make health insurance plans available outside the Affordable Care Act that avoid the requirements of the health-care law was illegal, calling the efforts “clearly an end-run around the ACA.”

The 43-page ruling blocks new rules from the Trump administration overseeing “association health plans,” which would allow small businesses to combine their forces to offer plans outside the ACA that would both be less expensive and provide fewer health protections.

The IBOUSA has been making a significant push to bring a more affordable health care alternative to the industry so Insider checked in with Chris Cowlbeck to see if the ruling would have impact on their plans.  Here is Chris’ reply.

IBO Health Update – Post Judge Ruling on Association Plans

Chris Cowlbeck, IBOUSA General Manager, Ardmore, OK  (for immediate release)

The newswires have been lit up since Friday when a federal judge commented the definitions in the White House Administration’s health care regulations that allowed associations to offer self-insured plans may have been too broad. Of course my inbox likewise lit up like the Fourth of July.  Here’s what’s going on.

Like most Americans, health care coverage and its costs are big concerns for our Associates.  And because IBOUSA Associates tend to be small to mid-sized businesses – we are the group most adversely affected by current health care options.  We at IBOUSA have known this was a problem for over a decade and have put a lot of analysis into a viable solution.

When the new White House administration began speaking about changing the federal health care regulations in ways that would permit small and mid-sized businesses to band together through associations to realize the benefits in coverage and cost savings otherwise available only to large employers, we took note.  We retained a new, innovative health care consultant with the help of one of our IBO attorney consultants, to explore whether and how we could offer a plan that benefited our Associates. And that we have, even after the judge’s ruling.

Having known that a dozen or so states oppose changes to these federal regulations and would seek to delay or prevent their implementation, we worked to structure a plan that capitalizes on the interest these regulatory changes fostered in reinsurers/stop loss carriers and the third-party administrators that administer the plans, but importantly, we made the plan not yet dependent upon these changes offered by the Administration.

The result is that the ruling issued does not impact what we are creating and we hope to launch our plan next month.  IBOUSA has insisted that this plan be financially and structurally sound.  This plan will comply with existing federal regulations and those of the various states in which our Associates reside.

Our plan will be a non-profit, fully-funded plan that is supported by reinsurance/stop loss coverage to guard against the effects of atypical spikes in claims or enrollment changes and truly is much different than association insurance plans of the past.  It will be a full service plan with various coverage and deductible options and it will be administered by a recognized, national third-party administrator. It will offer substantially better coverage on substantially improved economics than currently available to our Associates today in the marketplace.

Importantly, it will be a plan dedicated to our Associates.  Any premium-to-claims surpluses, pharmaceutical rebates and administrative efficiency-driven savings will be plowed back into the plan to improve coverage and/or reduce premiums (or increases in premiums should they be warranted).

Our approach is a bit more complex and costly than likely possible after new regulations are in place months and years down the road.  But the urgency to deal with these issues for our Associates is real and we believe it important to act now. Importantly, our plan will be flexible enough to capitalize on any new regulations and other health care coverage innovations as they become available, a win win scenario.

In short, these new regulations have spawned opportunities and new thinking in the existing marketplace upon which we have been nimble to capitalize upon a plan that we hope will offer significantly improved health care coverage for our Associates at significantly less cost.  Stay tuned as this topic is moving quickly. We expect a session on this with the plan administrator at our Savannah conference in early May. We also intend to open up affiliate memberships for all companies in the OOH space that include installers, designers, agencies to the benefit of all involved.

About IBOUSA

IBOUSA is a networking group of companies that have a common interest of promoting all things of importance to the OOH Industry.  We bring together some brilliant minds and cutting-edge technologies and services in our industry in some fun and engaging ways. Our IBO Health initiative overview and videos for members will be updated regularly as we progress.  Learn more by calling 580-226-2234 or visit IBOUSA.org.

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