Mass Health Care Reform (Bulletins 1-8)

Summary

Did you know…that the Chamber continues to monitor the Health Care Reform Law and has done nine bulletins on it since April of this year? Changes continue to be made to this law. This law was so far reaching and complex that it was always felt that it would undergo many adjustments over the first few years of its implementation.

You can access these updates through the links provided below.

Did you know?
that the Chamber published eight weekly bulletins during May and June that covered various aspects of the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law, Chapter 58 that became a law earlier this month, July 1, 2007?

The purpose of those bulletins was to raise the awareness for all of our members- those that provide health care insurance, those that do not, those that are directly impacted by the new law, and those that are indirectly affected by it. The law is complex and the bulletins were not intended to answer all questions. They were intended to direct businesses to other websites that were resources for answering those questions.

As a reminder, there are several websites sited in the eight bulletins. www.mass.gov/connector is the official state web site of the agency empowered to oversee most aspects of the new law.

www.hne.com was referenced several times. It is the official web site of Health New England and contains some very good documents explaining many aspects of this law.

Use the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield’s Membership Directory to find a list of the Chamber’s Members, such as accountants, attorneys, insurance brokers, payroll administrators, or financial advisors, who might be of some assistance to you with any questions you might have.

The Chamber will continue to be involved in the implementation of this law, especially in the next six months. Non-compliance of some of the features does entail penalties, many of which become effective January 1, 2008.

The Chamber continues to question some aspects of the law and will continue to do so in order to be sure that the law is fairly implemented and does not become a prohibitive burden to our members.

The only way that we can be sure if this law is seriously affecting our members is for you to communicate any negative effects to us. Obviously, it is also nice to hear any positive effects it might have on your business or employees as well. Feel free to email me directly at ciuffreda@myonlinechamber.com.

Sincerely,
Jeffrey Ciuffreda
Vice President of Government Affairs