The Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service have released new guidelines for the federal “Insurance Verification” law that will be enacted in September of this year. The law, often referred to as “One Nation, One Verification,” aims to make verifying health insurance less problematic. The law exists to augment to Affordable Care Act. The federal health is meant to make attaining insurance coverage easier for Americans, but this ease of access could create administrative nightmares as consumers purchase policies that will allow them to see doctors out of an insurance company’s network.
The three agencies claim that the new verification law will save billions of dollars in administrative fees. The new guidelines provided by the agencies will help health care providers comply with the new law as well as gain an understanding of the new standards and legal protections the law has introduced. The guidelines are summed up in no more than four pages, which is a great benefit for those without a firm understanding of legal language.
For one year after the law is enacted – September 29, 2012 – health care providers will not face penalties for non-compliance. The federal agencies will instead take this time to offer educational services and various online seminars to health care organizations to help them better understand the law and how it applies to them. After the year-long grace period, health care providers could face fines of $1,000 for every day they do not comply with the insurance verification law.
For more information: http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-aca8.html
