Oddities of Health Care Reform
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Understanding the scope and impact of the recent health care reform legislation is difficult for any employer. The law itself is several thousand pages long and spans 8 years of phased-in implementation to reach its full impact on the health care system.
The new health care reform legislation includes some errant twists which on their face, do not appear to involve health care. These include requiring unpaid employee lactation breaks for one year after the birth of a child which amends the FLSA, and a new mandate requiring fast-food chains to disclose the calorie count of foods they serve.
The new health care law also removes student loan processing from private banks and institutions and places the job in the hands of the federal government, much to the dismay of my college age son who lost a great summer job processing student loans.
The best phase-in discussion I have seen outlining what employers need to know right now is in a blog from the Texas law firm Hutton & Williams. It outlines what to expect now, and each successive year in the future.
This massive piece of legislation can only be understood if you take it one bite at a time, otherwise you could choke on the massive overhaul coming our way.
