Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
Health Insurance Brokers Help Employers Lower Healthcare Costs
ACA Times reports: "When it comes to providing healthcare as an employer, cost is a major concern. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), applicable large employers – organizations with 50 or more full-time employees and full-time equivalent employees — are required to...
BCBSIL to Stop Offering SHOP Plans (Small Group 1-50) Starting Jan. 1, 2018
Blue Cross and Blue Shield reports: "We want to let you know that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) will not be participating in the Federally Facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (FF-SHOP) marketplace with BCBSIL health insurance plans...
Obamacare rates in Illinois could climb next year
The Chicago Tribune reports: "Health insurers want to raise premiums next year for Illinois consumers who buy coverage through the Obamacare exchange — in many cases citing uncertainty surrounding the health care law as a reason for the proposed jumps. Average rate...
Illinois’ stack of unpaid medical bills now reaches $3.5 billion
Crain's Chicago Business reports: "The state budget stalemate, which has stretched on for nearly two years, is putting lives on the line, according to emotional testimony out of the Illinois House yesterday. That's because the state's now $12.6 billion backlog also...
Insured Through Your Job? Medicaid? The ACA? Here’s What Could Change For You
Yahoo News reports: "It's even clearer now how much the GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act will change health insurance for just about everyone. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office Monday released its estimates of the cost and impact of the House...
A new kind of doctor’s office charges a monthly fee and doesn’t take insurance — and it could be the future of medicine
Yahoo Finance reports: "Dr. Bryan Hill spent his career working as a pediatrician, teaching at a university, and working at a hospital. But in March 2016, he decided he no longer wanted a boss. He took some time off, then one day he got a call asking if he'd be up for...
No one thinks the GOP health bill is a good idea for Illinois
Crains Chicago Business reports: "There are not many things that Republicans and Democrats in Illinois agree on. But there's near universal consensus that House Republicans' proposed Obamacare replacement would do serious harm to Chicago and the state as a whole. The...
Is Medicare Tax-Deductible?
The Motley Fool reports: "Medicare provides critical health benefits to countless senior citizens, and while Part A, which covers hospital visits, typically does not impose a premium, Parts B and D, which cover preventative services and prescription drugs,...
Mendoza criticizes Illinois’ ‘lawless’ fiscal climate
Crain's Chicago Business reports: "Hospitals and doctors treating patients on the state payroll are now owed a collective $4.3 billion, Democratic Comptroller Susana Mendoza highlights in a new report that reflects a "lawless fiscal climate." The annual state report...
House Republicans release long-awaited ObamaCare replacement bill
Fox News reports: "House Republicans on Monday evening released the text of their long-awaited ObamaCare replacement bill, proposing to eliminate the various taxes and penalties tied to the original legislation while still preserving certain patient protections....