UVa eliminates health insurance for working spouses of employees

Roanoke Times ^ | 8/22/13 | Derek Quizon

[randita]

UVa eliminates health insurance for working spouses of employees

Coverage will end Jan. 1 in a move that officials hope will save “millions of dollars.” by DEREK QUIZON |

The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress

Thursday, August 22, 2013

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The University of Virginia will no longer provide insurance coverage to the working spouses of its employees, a move university officials hope will save “millions of dollars.”

Starting Jan. 1, employee spouses who have health insurance coverage under their employers cannot get coverage under UVa’s plan. If the spouse is covered under a plan defined by the Affordable Care Act as “minimum value” and “affordable,” he or she will no longer be eligible.

Cutting off working spouses with access to health insurance is part of the university’s plan to save money in the long-term, said UVa spokesman McGregor McCance. If employees wish to keep their spouses enrolled, they must certify their spouses do not have access to health care coverage with their current employer during open enrollment, between Oct. 7 and Oct. 25. If both spouses are employed with the university, they both keep their coverage.

Coverage for children and stepchildren will not change. How many employees and spouses will be affected by the change will not be certain until after the open enrollment procedure, McCance said.

Officials said the move is necessary to rein in growing medical costs and allow the university to focus on preventive care for its employees.

Total medical claims grew 28 percent, from $99 million to $127 million, between 2008 and 2012. This year, administrators expect costs to rise about 6.8 percent. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act will cost the university about $7 million in 2014, and by 2018, the university will have to pay a 40 percent tax on its individual premium plans, officials said in a news release.

The university is also requiring employees to complete an online health survey and sign up for a health screening by Oct. 31 to avoid an increase in premiums.

Employees can submit lab results from their doctors, taken anytime between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31 of this year, in lieu of the screening, according to the release. Susan Carkeek , the university’s chief human resources officer, said the assessment is to identify long-term trends and common health risks. The university, she said, “will only use aggregated data with no employee names. These data help us identify trends and guide our wellness efforts.”

[memyselfandi59]

And, so it begins. First, UPS. Now, UVa.

Well, these are just the first that are publicly speaking out. Last year my son's company enacted this policy. Large company with close to 90,000 employees. It wasn't presented as being due to Obamacare, however during open enrollment they were informed that if the spouse has coverage through work, then they will need to sign up for it.

[rabidralph]

I think the way it works is that the spouse has the option to be covered by the husband's/wife's plan if that spouse's job's coverage isn't as good as the other spouses. So what UVa and others are saying is that if the working spouse has a health plan available at his/her job, then he/she will have to enroll in that health plan because UVa is dropping them.

My company has started a dependent audit (done by an outside company) where employees with dependents have to verify that they are, in fact, legally entitled to call that child or live-in their dependent and they are eligible for coverage.

[rabidralph]

Yup! If this trend continues. And all those health plans that gladly cover any domestic partner, regardless...I guess it was fun while it lasted.

[EDINVA]

It really WOULD be a wonderful ‘unintended consequence’ of O’care, offsetting all the unintended consequences of the “Great Society,” i.e., damage to the nuclear family, skyrocketing illegitimacy, huge government dependency, etc. etc., etc.

[The Antiyuppie]

“will only use aggregated data with no employee names. These data help us identify trends and guide our wellness efforts.”

This type of statement will become the fourth of the “Three Biggest Lies” in the near future.

[randita]

If an employee’s spouse gets health insurance from her job, why should her hubby’s insurance provide redundent coverage?

There may be some advantages for one spouse to stay on the other spouse's policy. 1) the UVa plan may offer better benefits (cheap office visits, RX, eyecare, dental care, etc.) or 2) by opting out of the plan, the spouse who doesn't work at UVa may receive the commensurate cost of the plan as wages.

There may be other advantages, but those are the two I can think of off the bat.

[Wyatt's Torch]

It’s not redundant. The spouse doesn’t also pay for their coverage. For example my wife’s employer offers health insurance but my plan for a family is cheaper so we use my company’s and don’t pay a dime for hers.

[Venturer]

This Obamacare crap is just getting started and already it’s a shambles.

One would think by now that even Nancy Pelosi would start waking up to the mess they have made, but perhaps she is so stupid she would walk around after she messed herself and still not know what was in her underbritches.

[bert]

It would seem to me there is less here than meets the eye.

The very tightly drawn change apparently excludes nonworking spouses and alll kids (including 26 year olds)

It would seem the thing to do would be for the UVA employee to drop the UVA coverage and become enrolled on the working Spouses inurance.

[Thank You Rush]

“”If the spouse is covered under a plan defined by the Affordable Care Act as “minimum value” and “affordable,” he or she will no longer be eligible.””

Little bit more complicated than providing a W-2, wouldn’t you say?

[nascarnation]

All the burden will be put on the (unfortunate) employee to prove eligibility.

[rabidralph]

Democrats don’t care about the harm they cause to Americans. Their whole goal is to enslave everyone, as in NKOR.