Human resources departments need to maintain compliance with federal regulations, especially when it comes to health care. The U.S. has experienced several large shifts in the health care industry over the past few years. The most recent development occurred on Dec. 16, 2014 when President Barack Obama signed the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act into law.
What is it?
The legislation was originally proposed by Delaware Congressman John Carney in early 2014, according to Benefit News. The House of Representatives passed the bill on April 29, 2014. Considered a bipartisan bill, the Act was just recently passed by Congress and signed by President Obama shortly thereafter.
The Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act is one of many amendments made to the original Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As stated in a press release on Congressman Carney's website, the PPACA, in its initial form, unintentionally applied the same guidelines to health coverage plans for expatriates and domestic residents alike.
Who is affected?
An expatriate is anyone working or residing in a country other than his or her place of citizenship. These people have access to a worldwide network of health care providers. U.S. insurance companies with health coverage plans for expatriates and foreign nationals are constantly competing with international providers for business. The PPACA, in its first form, applied regulations to all U.S. providers' expatriate plans; these were regulations with which their foreign competitors didn't have to comply. This put the U.S. companies at a disadvantage and could have potentially cost the many Americans working to write, manage and deliver these plans their jobs.
Cigna reported that the Expatriate Health Coverage Clarification Act is meant to exempt the expatriate plans of U.S.-based health care providers from the PPACA regulations, thus allowing American citizens working abroad to maintain their coverage. Providers, then, can also retain their competitive standing on a global scale. In addition, certain individuals covered by these plans are still able to access certain PPACA benefits and stipulations within the U.S.
The Act and HR
This legislation is important to human resources departments because failure to comply can result in costly penalties. Companies need to ensure their HR professionals understand which employees this new bill applies to and when changes need to be made to policies. For example, there is much confusion surrounding eligibility; both expatriates and foreign nationals working in the U.S. for more than three months are applicable. Multiple eligibility requirements and corresponding coverage packages are outlined in the Act.
HR departments should also be aware of the stress and confusion changes like this cause in employees. There already exists an enormous amount of pressure on workers operating abroad, especially if they've moved their families to foreign countries. Their productivity and satisfaction could suffer if they are overwhelmed by drastic changes to their health plans.
An integrated HR technology platform can help employees stay connected and informed, while human resources professionals swiftly monitor data and benefit enrollment. It streamlines all processes and integrates a multitude of applications – including payroll, benefits and training – into one centralized platform for excellent workforce management.