AFS Government Affairs Representative—Waterman & Assoc., Washington, D.C.


Administration Releases New Health Care Rules


The regulations could make it harder for companies to retain their current health plan.


T


he Obama Administration has released new rules designed to prevent employers from dropping health insurance benefits for their workers


or shifting new costs onto them. The interim regulations are a result of the health care reform bill signed into law in March. The regulations indicate many plans should be able to retain grandfathered status, but some con- sumer protections such as no lifetime or annual caps on how much insurers must pay, no matter whether they have grandfathered status, will be required for all plans after Sept. 23. Further, retaining grandfathered sta-


tus over a period of many years could become more difficult, and it appears the new regulations could take away some of the choices small businesses have to keep up with the increasing cost of health care insurance. Under the new rules, health plans


and employers would lose their grand- fathered status if they: • significantly cut or reduced benefits, such as eliminating coverage for people with diabetes or AIDS;


• significantly raised co-payments or deductibles. Co-pays could not be increased by $5 or a medical inflation rate plus 15%, whichever is greater.


Deductibles could not be raised by a percent equal to medical inflation plus 15%;


• significantly lowered the portion of health coverage premium paid for by the employer. Grandfathered plans would not be allowed to decrease the amount by more than 5%. Employers and other plan sponsors


must weigh the design and operation changes required for the grandfathered health plan exemption against the cost of limited flexibility. The interim final regulations are


subject to change, and the final regula- tions should be released later this year, following the close of the comment period on Aug. 16. Details on the routine changes insur-


ers and employers can make without losing their grandfathered status and the projected impact on large and small employer plans are highlighted in the administration’s Fact Sheet: Keeping the Health Plan You Have: The Affordable Care Act and “Grandfathered” Health Plans (www.healthreform.gov/news- room/keeping_the_health_plan_you_ have.html).


MC For further information or questions,


contact Stephanie Salmon, Metalcast- ing Government Affairs Alliance, at 202/842-4864.


On the Hill WASHINGTON ALERT


Senate Rejects Murkowski Resolution The Senate voted in June to turn


back an effort to block the U.S. En- vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases un- der the Clean Air Act. The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), was defeated on a proce- dural vote (47-53), with six Democrats and all 41 Republicans voting in favor. The resolution was in response to EPA’s effort to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles that trigger requirements for emission controls from all other sources, including industrial facilities, commercial buildings and more. Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s (D-W.V.) bill


(S. 3072), which would suspend the EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions for two years, is still pending. The Senate should vote on the measure this summer. Over the past few weeks, the admin-


istration and Senate leaders have been trying to reach consensus on a course of action on a climate change/energy bill. Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) planned to bring a bill to the Senate floor starting the week of July 12.


MC


OSHA Proposes Changes to Surfaces Rule The U.S. Occupational Safety and


Health Administration (OSHA) has issued a proposed rule to revise its walking-working surfaces and per- sonal protective equipment standards. Among the significant changes in the


proposal are requirements for guardrail, safety net and personal fall protection systems; rules for load limits; require- ments for portable and fixed ladders; requirements for riser heights and stair- way landing platform widths; require- ments for employees in hoist areas of walking-working surfaces that are 4 ft. or more above lower levels; and revised employee training and retraining. The proposal also addresses haz-


ards leading to combustible dust explosions and other accidents. A paragraph in the new proposal requires that floors of workrooms be maintained in a clean and, so far as possible, dry condition.


MC


Comments on the proposed rule must be submitted on or before Aug. 23. To view the rule, visit edocket.access. gpo.gov/2010/2010-10418.htm.


MODERN CASTING / July 2010 15


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