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President Joe Biden nominated California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a known supporter of the ACA, as the new Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary.
On March 18, 2021, Becerra was confirmed by the slimmest of margins (50-49) as the new HHS secretary. We can expect him to support the Biden administration’s agenda in supporting and expanding the ACA, and here’s why.
First, Becerra is a longtime advocate of the healthcare law. He has been identified as a key defender of the ACA in the long-standing California v. Texas court case that asserts that the ACA is unconstitutional without the Individual Mandate penalty. During the initial case in 2018, the courts granted permission to Becerra and nearly a dozen other Democrat attorney generals to help defend the healthcare law, according to an article by the Washington Post.
Following the most recent oral arguments of November 2020, Becerra Tweeted, “We just finished oral arguments at the Supreme Court to defend the entire Affordable Care Act. The ACA Saves lives. It is the law of the land. It is legal. We are confident the Supreme Court will agree.” While the case has not yet been resolved, a decision is expected later this year and Becerra will likely be in attendance.
Historically, Becerra was outspoken about his support for Medicaid for all, and has given his stance, we can expect him to introduce advancements to the government-run healthcare options on a federal level and in the 12 states that haven’t expanded. Last summer Missouri and Oklahoma joined 37 others in expanding Medicare and Medicaid.
In addition, Becerra is likely to advocate for an increase in subsidized health insurance coverage on ACA state and federal health exchanges. Lower health insurance costs, coupled with an increase in the minimum wage, and increased ACA promotional outreach could elicit a much higher turnout in ACA enrollment.
Becerra has also advocated for women’s rights in healthcare, specifically reproductive. He received a “100% approval rating from the NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood.” In 2017, Becerra sued the Trump administration “over its restrictions on abortion and had the case go all the way to the Supreme Court. While unsuccessful in the outcome, he defended a California law “that required crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion,” according to a post by Modern Healthcare.
While Becerra has been a known supporter of a single-payer healthcare option, he has said, however, that he will support the White House in its decisions to bolster the ACA. And with the Senate dead-even, the possibility of Congress pushing forward a single-payer healthcare option is highly unlikely.
Senator Mike Crapo asked Becerra what his plans were for the future of healthcare and Becerra replied, “What I will tell you is I’m here at the pleasure of the president of the United States. He’s made it very clear where he is. He wants to build on the Affordable Care Act. That will be my mission, to achieve the goals that President Biden put forward, to build on the Affordable Care Act.”
Republicans have voiced opposition to Becerra as a candidate due to his opinion on a single-payer healthcare system. Republicans have cited that he doesn’t have a background in healthcare, lacks expertise in health policy, and has “little subject-matter expertise.”
Becerra was previously a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented Los Angeles, California for 23 years before resigning to assume the role of the state’s Attorney General in 2017. Becerra has a background deeply connected to healthcare and is anticipated to help bolster the ACA’s programs and outreach efforts.
For employers, while the landscape around the ACA is continuing to shift, a component of the ACA that continues to remain out of the discussion is the Employer Mandate.
Under the ACA’s Employer Mandate, Applicable Large Employers (ALEs), which are employers with 50 or more full-time employees and full-time-equivalent employees, are required to offer Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) to at least 95% of their full-time workforce (and their dependents) whereby such coverage meets Minimum Value (MV) and is affordable for the employee or be subject to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 4980H penalties.
With the ACA remaining law of the land, employers will still need to comply with the reporting responsibilities under the Employer Mandate. Check out these important 2021 dates for ACA reporting for the 2020 tax year to be sure your organization files promptly and does not receive ACA late penalty assessments.
If your organization needs assistance meeting the ACA federal or state filing deadlines, contact us to learn about how ACA Complete can help.
