Affordable Care Act explored at PBN summit

PANELISTS AT THE PBN summit on health care reform and the insurance exchange included: Lester Schindel, president and CEO of CharterCare Health Partners; Dr. Gus Manocchia, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of RI; Sandra Coletta, chief operating officer for Care New England; and Dr. Andrew Sussman, president of MinuteClinic and executive vice president/associate chief medical officer for CVS Health. / PBN PHOTO/RUPER WHITELEY
PANELISTS AT THE PBN summit on health care reform and the insurance exchange included: Lester Schindel, president and CEO of CharterCare Health Partners; Dr. Gus Manocchia, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of RI; Sandra Coletta, chief operating officer for Care New England; and Dr. Andrew Sussman, president of MinuteClinic and executive vice president/associate chief medical officer for CVS Health. / PBN PHOTO/RUPER WHITELEY

WARWICK – Five years after the enactment of the federal Affordable Care Act, health care providers, insurers and businesses in Rhode Island are still trying to determine its complex and evolving impacts.
More residents of the Ocean State are insured under the federal health care law, commonly known as Obamacare, as many as 90,000 people. An expert panel discussed the implications of that burgeoning population on health care providers, insurance carriers and businesses at the Providence Business News Summit on Health Care Reform and the Insurance Exchange. The forum drew more than 300 attendees Thursday to the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick.
Two topics were discussed: Obamacare’s impact on providers, insurers and employers, and the future of Rhode Island’s health care exchange, HealthSource RI. Speakers agreed that the evolving and highly complex act will inspire more collaboration among health care providers to reduce the costs of providing services, and that communication with employees about their choices in health insurance needs to be clear and direct.
Panelists included Lester Schindel, president and CEO of CharterCare Health Partners; Dr. Gus Manocchia, senior vice president and chief medical officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island; Sandra Coletta, chief operating officer at Care New England; and Anya Rader Wallack, director of HealthSource RI.
Also speaking during the three-hour event were Dr. Andrew Sussman, president of MinuteClinic for CVS Health Corp., Sam Slade, president, benefits for USI Insurance Services, Peter Marino, president and CEO of Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, and Dr. Kathleen Hittner, the R.I. Health Insurance Commissioner.
Panelists for the two sessions didn’t always agree on the implications of the new law, including whether higher deductible payments and co-payments borne by the insured were dissuading them from seeking basic health care services.
Speakers also disagreed on whether the requirement for businesses to provide health care coverage for full-time employees, those who work at least 30 hours, has resulted in workers getting fewer hours, so the employers can avoid the federal penalty for non-compliance.
William O’Gara, a partner and co-founder of the law firm Pannone, Lopes, Devereaux & West LLC, who leads the company’s employment law team, said the new law had not translated, at least initially, into reduced costs for healthcare insurance for employers.
And small businesses, including restaurants and service companies, have been reducing hours for employees because they cannot afford the coverage, he said. “The guy who made $9 an hour at least had a 40-hour-a-week job. Now he has a 28-hour-a-week job.”
Later, in a discussion on the panel focused on the future of HealthSource RI, James J. Raiola, a career agent with Mass Mutual and an advisory board member to the state exchange, questioned that. He reported that there had been “no evidence” to date that employers are reducing hours to avoid the healthcare mandate.
He recently coordinated a meeting with franchise owners of 100 Dunkin’ Donuts in the Boston area, he said, to explain the requirements of the law. “They’re all gearing up for health care compliance.”
Presenting sponsors for the event were Blue Cross & Blule Shield of Rhode Island, James Raiola CFP & Associates and Pannone, Lopes, Devereaux & West. Presenting sponsors were Care New England, CharterCare Health Partners, Coastal Medical, Delta Dental, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, Tufts Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare of New England and USI Insurance Services.

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