BWH cut short its health insurance enrollment period and was late in providing information to nurses, who are now faced with paying huge tax penalties if they choose hard-fought MNA insurance plan BOSTON , Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital are infuriated and scrambling to make significant, last-minute decisions about their healthcare after the hospital belatedly informed nurses that two of BWH's health insurance plans do not comply with state law and that nurses who use the plans could be subject to hundreds or thousands of dollars in tax penalties. The non-compliance and tax penalties could affect approximately 2,000 Brigham nurses and their families.
As a shortened open enrollment period began two weeks ago, nurses received notification that the hospital's selected and designed Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC) and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) plans do not meet Minimum Creditable Coverage (MCC) requirements taking effect January 1, 2025 , under the Massachusetts Health Care Reform Law. The plans have out-of-pocket expenses for preventative care, triggering the penalty. Nurses immediately grew concerned not just about the potential expense, but also because the hospital had in August agreed to a new MNA contract that included a key provision about health insurance.
The agreement, averting a potential one-day strike , enabled BWH nurses to choose during the length of their contract whether to switch between MGB and MNA health in.
