This week you will receive a mailer from Mercer Administration and enclosed will be information on the 2011 medical insurance renewal.  This renewal will not be like any other due to national health care reform changes that take effect January 1.  One of these changes pertains to certain benefits that could be viewed as potentially discriminatory by this legislation signed into law on March 23, 2010.  Our plan offers several unique benefits exclusive to SCDA member dentists such as our surviving spouse and retiree benefits.  Due to this legislation, in order for your practice to be able to keep these unique benefits and be qualified as a "grandfathered" practice, BlueCross must request contribution amounts employers made to employees' premium at the time the legislation was signed into law (March 23, 2010) and compare those contribution limits to those that the employer plans to make in 2011. 

Your practice will be qualified as grandfathered as long as you return the attestation form that you will receive this week by December 1 and as long as your contributions to your employees' medical premiums do not decrease by more than 5% points from what they were on March 23, 2010 compared to 2011.  You may wish to pull your April, 2010 Mercer billing to assist you with this exercise considering it was received by your office in mid March.

Contained within this mailer will be a cover sheet detailing what your practice must do in order to become grandfathered and keep these unique benefits, the 2011 rates and the attestation form.  There will be an example of a completed attestation form on the back of the attestation form itself.

Again, if you are covered under the SCDA group medical plan, keep an eye out for this mailer this week and return it by December 1 if you wish to keep these unique benefits.