New Rule Would Compel Health Plans to Disclose Out-of-Pocket Costs
One of the big unknowns in health care coverage is always how much any given incident will cost the consumer out of pocket. And a new rule proposed by federal agencies, set to be published in the FederalRegisterNovember 27, would require employer-sponsored group health plans to provide plan enrollees with estimates of theirout-of-pocketexpenses for services from different health care providers.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the information would be available to enrollees via an online self-service tool so people could shop around before they get care, instead of being hit with the final total after the fact. Comments are due by January 14, 2020.
While the word “compliance” isn’t specifically in “Human Resources,” anyone with their PHR or SPHR will tell you that it’s a massive part of the job. Compliance issues make up a large chunk of most of the HR function and can impact everything from recruiting to outplacement. Compliance laws and guidelines can vary based on state legislation, industry, federal rule changes, and sweeping societal changes like the #MeToo movement. They can impact all parts of a business.
