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Closing what many see as a loophole that could trap millions of people in sub-standard insurance, the Obama administration said Tuesday that large-employer medical plans lacking hospital coverage will not qualify under the Affordable Care Act’s toughest standard. It also offered relief to workers who may be enrolled in those plans next year. The administration will rule that plans without “substantial coverage for in-patient hospitalization services” do not meet the law’s “minimum value” threshold, the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday morning. It will issue final regulations saying so next year, it said. (Hancock, 11/4)

An employer health plan that doesn’t cover hospital care won’t quite cut it under the health law, according to federal regulators. A new notice issued Tuesday by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department says they believe that “plans that fail to provide substantial coverage for in-patient hospitalization services or for physician services” or both don’t meet the law’s standard for minimum value. That means a big employer offering such a plan to workers could still be subject to one of the law’s two penalties for failing to provide adequate coverage. Also, an employee offered such a plan could potentially still qualify for federal subsidies to buy coverage through one of the law’s marketplaces. (Wilde Mathews, 11/4)

Federal regulators Tuesday announced plans to close a loophole in the Affordable Care Act that allows large employers to offer plans that don't cover in-patient hospital stays. ... To meet the ACA's "minimum value" test, health plans for individuals and those working for smaller employers must include coverage within at least 10 categories of "essential health benefits" that include maternity care, prescription drugs and hospitalization.The health care law is much more stringent about what health insurance must cover for these people than it is for those working at large employers. (O'Donnell, 11/4)

Health plans offered by large, self-insured employers that do not include inpatient hospital services as a standard benefit will soon be a thing of the past, according to a notice released Tuesday by HHS and the Treasury Department. The federal government said many healthcare industry stakeholders raised questions and concerns about the viability of these types of “skinny plans,” and hospitals are hailing the latest guidance. Many companies have been building health benefits packages for employees to avoid paying a penalty under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But some of those plans have excluded hospitalization benefits. (Herman, 11/4)