Association Health Plans for businesses

Health insurance brokers are often asked if businesses can band together to form an association in order to reduce their health insurance costs and provide quality health benefits to their employees. Such plans are known as Association Health Plans or AHPs. Today’s prevailing AHPs are industry-bas…

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Trump’s Executive Order on Health Insurance

First the order has no force of law itself. The order tasks federal agencies to consider some new regulations. Obamacare is still the law of the land. These changes, if they happen at all, will take months if not longer to become effective. What proposed changes does the executive order outline? Sma…

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Insurers Plan To Significantly Raise Premiums For ACA Plans

The AP (4/28, Alonso-Zaldivar, Murphy) reports that health insurers are expected to significantly increase premiums for Affordable Care Act plans. Insurance companies say they have suffered massive losses on their ACA plans, “and they’re setting the stage for 2017 hikes that in some cases could …

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Employees Need to Beware Subsidy Farsightedness

Head over to the Compliance Cornered blog to check out our latest post: “Employees Need to Beware Subsidy Farsightedness.” People who are farsighted see things that are far away more clearly than they see something close to them. So it is with employees who have their eyes focused on the Afforda…

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Insurers Having Difficulties Profiting From ACA Exchanges

The AP  (2/26, Murphy) reported that many insurers are losing money in the health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act, threatening its future. UnitedHealth Group Inc. “may not participate in 2017” and Aetna “has questioned the viability of the exchanges.” That said, “en…

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Healthcare.gov Extends Deadline through Dec 17th, 2015 for coverage beginning Jan 1, 2016

The deadline to sign-up for January 1 coverage has been extended until 11:59pm PST December 17. Because of the unprecedented demand and volume of consumers contacting our call center or visiting HealthCare.gov, we are extending the deadline to sign-up for January 1 coverage until 11:59pm PST Decembe…

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Administration Won’t Offer Special Enrollment Period This Tax Season

The Wall Street Journal  (12/8, A2, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication) reports that Federal officials said Monday that uninsured people who do not get coverage by the end of the ACA’s enrollment period on Jan. 31 will not be given an extension to avoid the penalty for not having coverage. In a …

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Lawmakers Make Late Push To Repeal “Cadillac Tax.”

(12/2, Sullivan) reported on a “late push” by lawmakers to “repeal or scale back” the ACA’s “‘Cadillac Tax’ by the end of the year,” noting that they are “eyeing inclusion of changes in a broader tax package.” However, according to lawmakers fro both sides of the aisle, it is n…

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Fewer PPOs Offered On Exchanges Next Year

Kaiser Health News  (11/26) reported that consumers seeking to enroll in preferred provider organization (PPO) plans “are finding far fewer of those plans offered on the insurance marketplaces next year,” and “the premiums are rising faster than for other types of coverage.” A Kaiser analys…

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Top Democrats Considering Changes To ACA’s “Cadillac Tax.”

Reuters  (11/11, Cornwell) reports that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said Tuesday that Democratic lawmakers are considering proposing changes to the ACA’s “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health plans. “I’m not proposing eliminating it at this point, I’m open to suggestions for changing it,” he…

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Meritus Health Placed Under Supervision

Two Arizona health insurance companies have been placed under supervision by the Arizona Director of Insurance, Andy Tobin. Director Tobin filed an Order for Supervision on October 30, 2015, to place Meritus Health Partners and Meritus Mutual Health Partners into supervision. Meritus declined to con…

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2015 Reinsurance Fee Action Required in November

The 2015 Reinsurance Fee deadline is quickly approaching. Employers sponsoring self-funded group health plans are required to submit their average covered lives data and schedule their Reinsurance Fee payments no later than .November 16, 2015 Reinsurance Fee Refresher The Reinsurance Fee is an annua…

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