Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
Why your 2015 health coverage will cost more
Crain's Chicago Business reports: "A year after the nation embarked on the experiment in health care called Obamacare, rising drug prices threaten to jack up costs for employees and employers alike in 2015. Health care plans spend the most on drugs for common chronic...
Five States To Get Early Access To Small Business Health Insurance Marketplace
Kaiser Health News reports: "Businesses in five states will get an early look at the federal health insurance marketplace for small businesses, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced Wednesday. The states are Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, New Jersey and Delaware....
High Health Plan Deductibles Weigh Down More Employees
The New York Times reports: "Anita Maina was working on an arts and crafts project she found on Pinterest — creating a table out of wood and cork — when she ripped off a fingernail while removing staples from a piece of wood. “It is one of those things that really...
PPACA preventive services not so free
Benefits Pro reports: "The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) basic preventive services package famous by putting a controversial mandate -- for "free" birth control benefits -- in the...
3 Reasons to Treat Obamacare Side Effects With HSAs
Personal Finance Cheat Sheet reports: "The side effects of the Affordable Care Act continue to surface in the labor market. In order to help manage rising health care costs and comply with new regulations, large employers across the nation are making adjustments to...
Cubs cut grounds crew hours to avoid paying health insurance
Yahoo Sports reports: "The Chicago Cubs denied an assertion by the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday that the tarp debacle earlier in the week against the San Francisco Giants happened because the club short-staffs the grounds crew at Wrigley Field in order to avoid paying...
Will employer-sponsored health insurance survive?
Forbes reports: "Reports from consulting firms don’t normally make national news. Then again, most such reports don’t predict the downfall of the American health care system. Earlier this month, the consulting group McKinsey projected that tens of millions of...
New Guidance on Information Reporting Requirements Under the Affordable Care Act
SBA.gov reports: "Under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, those employers that are subject to the Employer Shared Responsibility provisions must report certain information regarding the health coverage they offer their full-time employees (known as Section...
Employer-paid Individual Health Plans
Flexible Benefit reports: "The IRS and other agencies have issued three different sets of guidance making it clear that employers cannot give actively employed workers pre-tax dollars through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) ,or any other type of arrangement,...
Still need to send documents to the Marketplace? If you get a letter this week, time is running out.
Healthcare.gov reports: "We’ve been reaching out to some of you by mail, email, and phone if some information you gave us on your Health Insurance Marketplace application doesn’t match the data we have on file. It’s important that you submit the documents we need so...