Guide outlines their design and potential impact on benefits delivery
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
A key element of health care reform that has the potential to
significantly change the benefits landscape is the topic of Unum’s
(NYSE:UNM) latest guide to reform.
“Health insurance exchanges are the subject of a lot of questions, and
we think it’s important to offer a clear explanation of how they’re
intended to work and how they have worked in places where they’ve been
tried,” said David Brenerman, vice president of Government Affairs for
Unum. “Brokers and employers play a critical role in delivering benefits
to millions of working people, and providing this information is one way
we’re trying to support our business partners.”
The guide, ‘Health
Insurance Exchanges: A marketplace for the future,’ explores how the
exchanges, mandated to take effect by 2014, will aim to create a health
insurance marketplace for individuals and small businesses to give them
greater buying power. Though the specific rules for how exchanges will
work have yet to be written, Unum’s guide is based on the requirements
known now from the Affordable Care Act.
“The guide is not an endorsement or an indictment of exchanges, but a
thoughtful and lucid explanation of the approach,” Brenerman said.
“Simply helping our partners understand their potential effects is a
major goal of our work.”
Jamie Mills, president of Mills Benefit Group, an employee benefits
brokerage in Grand Rapids, Mich., posted the guide on her business
website so employers and other clients can access it. “It is a great
piece, and we’re glad to be able to share this information, especially
at a time when there are so many questions about health care reform,”
she said.
Over the last several months, Unum has produced a series of guides to
health care reform intended to provide the brokers and employers the
company serves with objective explanations of how these changes will
affect their businesses, their families and their bottom lines.
“We’ve consistently heard from our business partners that these guides
have been valuable resources,” Brenerman said. “Though the financial
protection benefits Unum provides won’t be directly affected by health
care reform, it’s important that we offer information and guidance to
help give our partners confidence that they are making informed
decisions about employee benefits.”
The series has included:
About Unum
Unum (www.unum.com)
is one of the leading providers of employee benefits products and
services in the United States and the United Kingdom. Through its
subsidiaries, Unum Group paid approximately $6 billion in total benefits
to customers in 2009.
Source: Unum
Contact:
Unum
Mary Fortune, 423-294-6368
mfortune@unum.com