ACA costs lower than predicted

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December 9, 2014 - 12:00 AM

Iola will not have to dig as deep into its pocketbooks as previously thought to help support a mandate for the Affordable Care Act.
Two weeks after being told Iola would have to pay more than $127,000 to “help subsidize premiums” on the indiviudal market — one of the central tenets of ACA — Iola Administrator Carl Slaugh told Council members Monday that number was greatly exaggerated.
Instead, the city’s share will be $13,986.
The much lower fee was determined after the city was notified of a change in how it was calculated.
The fee is set by taking the number of individuals receiving health insurance coverage, including employees and their insured dependents. Using figures provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas for January, April and July, Iola had an average of 222 recipients per month.
The stabilization fee was calculated by taking 222 times $63, or $13,986.
The city must pay the fee by Jan. 15, Slaugh said.
“That’s quite a difference,” Councilman Gene Myrick noted.
Because the fee is significantly smaller than expected, Iola likely will eschew its earlier plan of paying only a portion of the fee in January and the rest in November 2015.
Iola’s share will come from the city’s Health Insurance Fund.

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