Publications: Healthcare Reform - Recent Court Decision Should Not Affect Current Employer Mandates

On December 13, 2010, a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia declared unconstitutional the healthcare reform law’s requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance. The ruling has caused a great deal of excitement, since it strikes down a central part of what is perhaps the Obama administration’s biggest legislative achievement. (Whether you’re for it or against it, there’s no denying it’s big.)

Readers may know that Monday’s decision will not be the last ruling on the status of the healthcare reform law. Several states’ attorneys general have sued to have the law overturned, and most of those cases await decision. Plus, the U.S. Justice Department has pledged to appeal Monday’s ruling. Eventually, we expect the Supreme Court to rule on the statute.

In the meantime, amidst the excitement, it is important to recognize that the ruling does not affect the parts of healthcare reform that have already become effective –the benefit enhancements employers have been required to make to their group health plans, and those additional enhancements they will have to make as their plans come out of grandfathered status. Also, for now, employers with more than fifty employees can still expect to have to comply with the 2014 mandate to offer coverage or pay a penalty.

We will follow the cases that challenge healthcare reform as they make their various ways through the courts. In the meantime, if you have questions about how the reform law affects your benefit plans, please contact your Ungaretti & Harris lawyer.