Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
Consumers With Serious Medical Problems Need To Carefully Assess Total Plan Costs
Kaiser Health News reports: "One of the health care overhaul's most far-reaching provisions prohibits health plans from refusing to cover people who are sick or charging them higher premiums. Still, for people with serious medical conditions, the online health...
Employers renewing early to sidestep PPACA
Benefits Pro reports: "Many small businesses have found a way to temporarily sidestep some of the headaches brought on by the new health care law. One of them is Huber Capital Management. The asset management firm is renewing its health insurance policy early, in 2013...
The Top Five Questions Employees Will Be Asking On October 1
JD Supra Law News reports: "Employers are required to provide a notice to employees regarding coverage options under the new Health Insurance Marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act that are scheduled to be up and running on October 1. The notice must be...
Republicans unveil healthcare reform alternative amid threats of government shutdown
Fierce Healthcare reports: "The GOP this week unveiled an alternative plan to President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law amid a threat from a minority of Republicans to defund the law before the Oct. 1 implementation date and shutdown the government....
Trader Joe’s will be a health care reform test case
Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal reports, "Trader Joe’s made a very big announcement last week, one that had nothing to do with Two-Buck Chuck. The grocery chain, in a memo obtained by the Huffington Post, told part-time employees it would end health insurance...
White House: No Subsidies For Union Health Plans
Insurance News Net reports: "Low-income workers on union health plans are not eligible for the same federal subsidies available to those who buy insurance in the new state health care marketplaces, the White House said Friday. The decision is a disappointment for...
Nearly Half Of U.S. Births Are Covered By Medicaid, Study Finds
Kaiser Health News reports: "About half the births in the United States are paid for by Medicaid — a figure higher than previous estimates – and the numbers could increase as the state-federal health insurance program expands under the Affordable Care Act, according...
The Tax Implications Of ACA
Insurance News Net reports: "The Economic Policy Institute issued the following news release: In a new article in the September issue of Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy, a team of researchers recommend expanded educational efforts to ensure that...
10 years on, tort reform sees suits, payouts drop
Merced Sun-Star reports: "Ten years after the Texas Legislature capped damages in the state's medical malpractice lawsuits, the number of suits and the amounts paid out have fallen sharply. The Austin American Statesman reported (http://bit.ly/15rYYMk ) Sunday that...
Questions and Answers on the Individual Shared Responsibility Provision
The IRS reports: "Basic Information 1. What is the individual shared responsibility provision? Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government, state governments, insurers, employers and individuals are given shared responsibility to reform and improve the...