U.S. House Republicans plan to craft a bill that could loosen the current rules governing when an existing health plan can keep grandfathered status. PPACA grandfather rules protect plans that existed before PPACA took effect from having to comply with some PPACA benefits mandates such as the new minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) and certain preventive services without deductibles, co-payments or other fees.

However, interim final regulations could cause health plans to lose grandfathered status if steps are taken to increase co-payments levels or the percentage of the premium paid by enrollees by increases more than 5 percentage points.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has said that three House committees - Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Workforce committees - will be working on legislation to repeal these restrictions because "the Obama administration has been issuing further restrictions against those previously protected plans."

If the current grandfathering rules are not repealed, the percentage of plans losing grandfathered status in the near future could be 49% to 80% for small employer plans, 34% to 64% for large employer plans, and 40% to 67% for individual insurance plans, Cantor says. "Employers losing their grandfathered status will face steep penalties, increasing their costs and negatively affecting wages and job growth."