AHA supports proposed IRS clarification of minimum value standard

The AHA today voiced support for an Internal Revenue Service supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, which clarifies that applicable large employers must provide substantial coverage for inpatient hospitalization and physician services to meet the minimum value standard for health benefits under the Affordable Care Act. Some plans certified as meeting the standard for the 2014 plan year had no or minimal hospital coverage. As advocated by AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ final rule on minimum value required eligible employer-sponsored health plans to include “substantial” coverage of both inpatient hospital and physician services to meet the standard effective March 1, 2016. “CMS’s final rule, however, did not define the term ‘substantial,’ and the AHA remains concerned,” AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels said in comments on the IRS notice. “We will continue to advocate for a definition in both CMS and IRS rulemaking that ensures substantial inpatient hospital benefits.”