More Key Aspects of ACA -- DELAYED

On what feels like the eve of full healthcare reform implementation, many news sources have verified delays to certain provisions of the ACA. On Friday, the Obama administration quietly released a 602-page final regulation that included several delays not yet made public. In fact, the Washington Post's Wonkblog reported that the word "delay" turned up 45 times in that document.

        Here are the most notable delays:

1. Delayed until 2015: The employer mandate, requiring employers with 50+ full-time employees to provide the requisite amount of healthcare coverage under the new law. 
• This we already knew.
2. Delayed until 2015: State-run marketplaces (of which there are 17) will not have to verify consumers' claims that they do not receive health insurance from their employer.
• Explanation: Anyone who receives an affordable offer of health insurance from their employer, regardless of their annual income, does not qualify for a federal tax credit. Originally the federal government assured states they would assume the burden of verifying applicant claims of not receiving employer-sponsored insurance. As a result, many people who shouldn't qualify for tax subsidies  may get them anyway. (This also happened during the roll-out of Medicare Part D, when some seniors who should not have received low-income subsidies got them anyway.)
3. Delayed until 2015: Consumers will be allowed to self-report income without full federal oversight during 2014.
• Explanation: Originally, CMS had requested the government set up a system to verify income data for anyone who reported their income was 10% lower than what federal data said they earned. (This can happen to people who lose their jobs or those who game the system.)  Now, the federal government has stated that they will only double-check a "statistically significant" number of applicants with large income discrepancies. This provision will affect all 50 states. 
4. Delayed until 2015: Electronic notices for Medicaid
• Explanation: State Medicaid programs now have an additional year to roll out electronic notices of, among other things, what tax subsidy an individual applicant is eligible to receive. We've all seen the waffling Medicaid Expansion decisions for months...apparently this waffling deserves a one-year reward.
5. Delayed at least until 2015:A computer system glitch (that will reportedly take at least a year to fix) will limit the penalties that the law says insurers can charge smokers.
• Premiums hikes do to tobacco-use penalties would have made insurance coverage for some smoker unaffordable. Saved by the glitch -- but only if you're elderly. Apparently the computers can't process premium hikes for a 65-year old smoker, but may be able to handle penalties for 21-year old smokers without a problem, since penalties for younger smokers may be 3x less than those for older smokers.
• Example from SF Gate: "Premiums for a standard "silver" insurance plan would be about $9,000 a year for a 64-year-old non-smoker, according to the online Kaiser Health Reform Subsidy Calculator. That's before any tax credits, available on a sliding scale based on income.   For a smoker of the same age, the full 50 percent penalty would add more than $4,500 to the cost of the policy, bringing it to nearly $13,600. And tax credits can't be used to offset the penalty."

At least the airlines send you a timely text.