January 12, 2011: SHARE grantee Mark Hall has published a paper in the FALL 2010 issue of Inquiry about his SHARE-funded analysis of Section 125 plans.
The article, “Paying for Individual Health Insurance Through Tax-Sheltered Cafeteria Plans,” details the use of Section 125 cafeteria plans to purchase individual insurance on a pre-tax basis. Hall and his co-author Amy Monahan note that, prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), these plans didn’t garner much interest due to legal ambiguity associated with state small-group reform laws, federal restrictions on medical underwriting, and HIPAA’s nondiscrimination requirements. ACA reduces some—but not all—of this legal uncertainty, and Hall and Monahan urge federal regulators to clarify the issue.
Click here to view the article abstract. (Subscription required for full access.)