Health Care Reform Explained
The New Health Care Law and ‘Grandfathered’ or Exempt Plans
by: Susan Jaffe, AARP Bulletin, September 4, 2010
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Q. What does it mean if my health plan is “grandfathered” under the new health care reform law?
A. During the debate on health care reform, President Obama often promised Americans: “If you like the health care plan you have now, you can keep it.” Therefore, the legislation exempts plans that were already in existence on March 23, 2010—the date it was signed into law—from certain requirements that apply to all new plans. Exempt plans are known as “grandfathered” plans.
If your employer provides a grandfathered plan, you should receive a written notice to this effect. If you buy your own insurance, contact the insurer to find out.
Readers seem to have two main concerns about these plans. They want to know whether grandfathered plans must stay exactly the same as they were on March 23—same benefits, same premiums, same copayments — in order to continue to be exempt in future years. And they also ask whether these plans will give them fewer consumer protections and benefits than will be required of new plans.
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Tags: Health Care, Obama, OpEd, Opinion
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