March 2010

Reacting to Reform

From CFO.com.

For legislators, the long process of reforming the nation's health-care system has finally come to an end. On Thursday Congress passed the reconciliation bill containing the final changes to the landmark Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which President Obama signed into law on Tuesday. But for finance chiefs, the process of determining what health reform means for their companies is only beginning.

Joel Quall, corporate controller at publicly traded Knight Capital Group, a New Jersey–based electronic trading services firm, says he has been talking with employees about how health-care reform is going to affect them. Some of the firm's 800 U.S. employees are positive about the change. "People are relieved about being able to cover children up to age 26 on their plan," says Quall. And the lifting of lifetime caps on insurance coverage resonates personally with Quall, who says he saw his late father worry about that issue through a wrenching series of cancer treatments.

But other employees are concerned that their premiums will go up, or worry about new individual taxes they may face. And when it comes to specifics, Quall, like most people, is at a loss to predict the future.

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