Not only did the calculator-approved plans not include hospital insurance, the substandard plans cost half as much as similar plans that did include hospitalization coverage.
Due to the loophole, employers who offered health plans, even without hospital coverage, were able to meet the “minimum value” of benefits required by law and avoided fines of as much as $3,120 per employee.
The Treasury Department will likely change the official calculator to prohibit large employers to offer plans without hospital coverage; however, a final decision has not yet been made, according to the report.
If the calculator is changed, disqualifying the calculator-approved substandard plans could disrupt preparations by hundreds of companies who already have or plan to offer 2015 coverage without hospital coverage.
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