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Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Monday proposed a state regulation that would command businesses to contribute more to employee health coverage or pay an annual "fair ploughshare" penalty, the Boston Globe reports. Under existing state of matter law, businesses with more than than 10 full-time workers must offer health reporting or yield an yearly penalty of $295 per worker. Employers could choose either to cover at least 33% of their workers' premiums within the first 90 days of employment or ensure that at least 25% of their full-time workers ar enrolled in an employer-sponsored plan.
The proposed regulation would require employers to comply with both requirements or pay the annual penalty. Public documents released on Monday stated that the rule, if adoptive, would be implemented on Oct. 1. The new rule would generate an estimated $45 million this fiscal year, which would be secondhand to close a funding gap in the state's health insurance law. A public hearing on the proposed regulation is scheduled for Sept. 5.
Brian Rosman, research director for Health Care For All, said, "We think this implements the shared responsibility concept that was the stylemark of health care reform," adding, "It makes sensory faculty to us to say to companies that tender minimal or no benefits, 'You have to pretend a lowly contribution.'"
The Retailers Association of Massachusetts, which represents about 3,000 state businesses, said that the new regulation would force its members -- especially small-business owners -- to spend thousands of dollars more than on employee health care and would lead some companies to drop coverage altogether. Association President Jon Hurst said that hundreds of businesses, particularly those that are seasonal, would be affected by the proposed regularisation because it would need them to submit quarterly reports on workers' wellness coverage, rather than annual reports.
The proposed linguistic rule comes 2 weeks later lawmakers sanctioned a supplementary funding nib that increases funding for the state's health policy law by $100 1000000 through extra assessments on insurance companies' reserve accounts and hospitals, as well as money from the Medical Security Trust Fund, which is used to fund health coverage for the unemployed (Lazar, Boston Globe, 8/12).
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