Posted by Molly Nelson – NASE Senior Health Policy Advisor Michael Beene is speaking today at a joint Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC) and U.S. Chamber of Commerce event on “Controlling Costs: The Price of Good Health.” The day-long event features multiple speakers, with guests including Douglas Elmendorf, Director of the Congressional Budget Office; House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.); and Nancy-Ann DeParle, President Obama’s Deputy Chief of Staff.
Senior Health Policy Advisor Beene will be speaking on one of this afternoon’s panels regarding the need for employer flexibility. Beene will be reminding the panel that Essential Health Benefits Requirements (soon to be released by the Department of Health and Human Services) will limit self-employed business owners’ flexibility with regards to plan design and deductible levels. Health coverage options, after the essential health benefits requirements are finalized, will be more comprehensive but also more expensive than those currently held by the self-employed. Additionally, self-employed business owners are in between a rock and a hard place with regards to the new mandate on purchasing health insurance – they make too much money to qualify for premium assistance but too little to afford the new, more comprehensive coverage that will be required by law.
To read more and see other information Beene will be sharing on the panel, click here. You can watch the live webcast of Beene’s panel here beginning at 3:45 p.m. EST.