Why Americans Are Drowning in Medical Debt

[Xithras]

35. The poster is correct.

The HHS requires employers who self-insure to offer plans that meet a "minimum value" threshold, and provides tools that allow them to tailor plans that just barely meet that minimum. As it turns out, if they offer a policy with very low deductibles, low copays, and a few other "optional" coverage's, they can meet the requirements WITHOUT offering hospitalization coverage...which tends to be the most expensive insurance feature for employers. Insurance companies are now starting to offer employers what they call "Minimum Value Plans" which just meet the bare minimums under the ACA and don't offer hospitalization coverage.

The real bonus for employers is that it can often cost absolutely nothing. Because the ACA simply requires that plans not exceed 9.5% of an employees wages, and because most of these minimum value plans only cost a couple hundred dollars a month, the employer can often pass on 100% of the healthcare cost to the employee. The only costs to the employer lay in the administrative overhead to manage the whole thing.

The employer satisfies the letter of the law, and the employee is stuck spending hundreds of dollars a month on shit insurance that won't offer a bit of help. Even worse, because the employer offers a legally compliant plan, the employees are also unable to buy better insurance on the exchange.

The ACA is what you get when you let insurance industry hacks drive health reform. Nobody should be surprised to find these kinds of loopholes.