Check out a recent blog post written by my associate, Pam Reihs of A.D. Banker & Company. She describes the monthly Lunch and Learn webcasts she and I co-host about the most current topics affecting the insurance industry.
These webcasts are free, and they always fill up, so visit Pam’s blog post ASAP, where you can register to reserve your seat.
We resolve to be better each new year, listening to the advice of those who (supposedly) know so much more than we do: Eat healthier! Become more fit! Earn a higher salary!
But who and what are we really listening to as we ponder our lives, and strive to improve?
Many of us pay more attention to, and heed the words of, the people at work more than we do anyone else. Mathematically, it makes sense: we probably spend more time with our bosses, coworkers, and clients than with anyone else.
Some of us pride ourselves on reading self-help books and listening to Ted Talks or other motivational speakers when we struggle. This also makes sense: education and team work enables us to do so much more than we can do by ourselves.
And when our ears and minds become overloaded with the words and advice of others, we often relax by listening to music. I’m a musician myself, so I understand the magic of melody and the motivation of an uplifting beat.
But I’ve often wondered why we don’t listen to ourselves more. Why do we tend to forget that voice that lives inside, the one that struggles to be heard amid all the clamoring and shouting around us?
Why do we believe other people are smarter than we are? That they have all the answers and we can’t make a single decision without bowing to their superior knowledge?
Why do we doubt ourselves so much and, when we need to make an important decision, default to our belief in the propaganda that “they” are always right?
This year, I resolve to listen to myself more. To find more quiet spaces after I seek the advice of others. To allow that little voice inside me the opportunity to sing loud, and strong, and true … and share the music of what I really know, who I really am, and all I can really be.
“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” – Mark Twain
When the Affordable Care Act (i.e., the ACA or ObamaCare) was originally enacted in 2010, a number of lawsuits were filed contesting its constitutionality. Many people were opposed to the federal government stipulating that most Americans had to be covered by a specific form of health insurance or be fined. (The ACA also required large employers to offer a specific form of health insurance to a certain percentage of full-time employees or be fined.)
The Individual Mandate is the ACA provision requiring individuals to be covered by health insurance that meets specific requirements of federal law to avoid paying a penalty. Technically, the monetary penalty was ruled a tax imposed by Congress and, therefore, the Individual Mandate was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court.
In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the Individual Mandate’s tax penalty to $0. This meant that beginning January 1, 2019, Americans were no longer taxed if they were not covered by federally mandated health insurance. As one would expect, that law also spurred litigation.
Last month, a federal Appeals Court ruled that because the Individual Mandate’s tax penalty was reduced to $0, it could no longer be considered a tax based on the criteria established by the Supreme Court in earlier legislation. Since the Individual Mandate no longer contains a tax, it is no longer constitutional.
While this decision might seem to indicate that everyone’s health insurance options will change this year, that is not the case. Why? Because another portion of the lawsuit heard by the Appeals Court was deferred until the lower court can study all the provisions in the ACA to determine which of them Congress intended to be severable from the rest of the ACA. In other words, just because the Individual Mandate is unconstitutional doesn’t mean all provisions of the ACA are, as well.
A complete review of the entire ACA will take months and months of time. Then, when the lower court submits its study to the Appeals Court, the ensuing judicial process can also be expected to take months. For the time being, our health insurance options should remain pretty stable, with the additional options offered by other recent federal legislation: the availability of Short-term Limited Duration Insurance (STLDI) and high-benefit, low-deductible health insurance plans (i.e., Cadillac plans). Note: the 40% tax on Cadillac plans was permanently repealed effective January 1, 2020 under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 (H.R. 1865).
Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available…
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.