Benefits support companies prepared even as Washington stalls on health care reform

Benefits support companies are assuring employees and employers that they are ready to deal with whatever happens in Washington, D.C. over health care.
As of now, the Affordable Care Act, and its requirements, are in place, and there is no immediate plan to repeal and replace it following the collapse of the Republican leadership promoted American Health Care Act (AHCA).
John Wilson, director of enterprise portfolio management for South Carolina-headquartered Benefitfocus, said there is “very important politics” happening around health care going on in Washington.
“There are things we are pretty confident that are going to stick around,” Wilson told HR Daily Wire. “But negotiations are continuing and new details are going to be worked out.”
Benefitfocus provides employers and insurance carriers with a customizable technology platform to shop, enroll, manage and exchange benefits. For benefits professionals, reporting requirements are among the top issues they are keeping an eye on whatever comes out of Washington.
“Employers are still going to have to report,” Wilson said, adding that the complexity of reporting requirements is likely to decrease under a Republican health care plan.
The AHCA, championed by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, stalled March 24 after it became clear there were not enough votes for it to pass the House.
But HR professionals are still most interested in what might happen with health savings accounts, which Republicans are extremely keen in promoting and developing. There are so many angles to HSAs, said Wilson, from age bands and how much each contributes, to the tax implications and benefits.
For technology companies such as Benefitfocus, it is about staying ahead of the game and having a reporting suite “supporting employees and employers regardless of how difficult” it might be, Wilson said. When it comes to carrier technology, it is important through all of these changes to make the software easy, configure so that it is easy to pivot.
“Our software is flexible regardless of what happens,” he said.