On November 8th, 2016, Republican candidate Donald Trump won the presidential election. In addition, Republicans retained control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This means that the vacancy left in the U.S. Supreme Court by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia will be filled by a Republican-selected nominee, giving Republicans unified control of the federal government.

Due to the sweeping Republican victories seen in this election, it is likely that some changes will be made to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) over the next four years. While it is largely unclear at this time what those changes will look like, Republicans in the past have suggested the following:

• Full repeal of the ACA, with or without a potential replacement health care reform legislation;
• Partial repeal of key provisions (such as the individual and employer mandates), while retaining some less controversial provisions;
• Changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs; and
• Implementing new policies intended to expand coverage and lower health care costs.

However, the newly elected officials will not take office until early 2017. This means that there will likely be no significant legislative or regulatory changes to the ACA before then. Due to the additional uncertainty for employers, with compliance obligations hinging on the political process, employers may want to hold off on making any large-scale changes related to their employer-provided health care.

Please refer to the below bulletin for additional information and contact your NEEBCo representative with any questions you may have.

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