Highmark introduces interactive 'pay-or-play' tool for employers
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Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark Inc. has introduced an interactive tool for employers with 100 or more employees to use in deciding whether to “pay or play” under health care reform.
The Highmark Health Care Reform Planner helps employers consider their options under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide health care insurance to their employees or pay a per-employee penalty of $2,000.
Among other things, the tool “models various health plan strategies that will enable employers to offer an affordable, competitive benefits package that’s right for their business, for their employees and for the times,” said Vik Mangalmurti, Highmark’s vice president of health care reform, in a statement.
Among the specific variables the modeling tool includes are the costs of employer and individual mandates to purchase health insurance coverage, fees and taxes under the health care reform law and available coverage options, such as defined-contribution and narrow network models that meet the coverage mandate at a lower cost than traditional group health plans.
The tool was developed with technical support from Monroeville, Pa.-based information technology consultant SDLC Partners L.P.
Employers interested in using the PPACA modeling tool should contact their broker or their Highmark client representative.
