Latest News + Info
The latest information relating to the health insurance industry.
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...
Self Employed? What You Need to Know About Individual Shared Responsibility Starting in January 2014
US Small Business Administration reports: "Under the Affordable Care Act, the government, insurers, employers, and individuals share in the responsibility to improve the availability, quality, and affordability of health insurance coverage. The individual shared...
ACA Out-of-Pocket Max Clarity
Flex Benefits reports: "The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires non-grandfathered plans to impose limitations on out-of-pocket expenses for essential health benefits starting in 2014. The out-of-pocket limitations will be capped next year at $6,350 for single coverage...
Health Plans Dropping Spouses; Are Children Next?
Insurance News Net reports: "A growing number of companies are looking to clamp down on rising health care costs by dumping coverage for their employees' working spouses. Others are requiring their workers to pay extra money to cover a spouse who could get health...
More High-Deductible Plan Members Can’t Pay Hospital Bills
Kaiser Health News reports: "As employers and insurance companies shift more health costs into workers’ pockets, hospitals are making a discovery. The pockets aren’t bottomless. “The number of accounts that we’re seeing that relate to these high-deductible plans has...
UPS blames PPACA, to slash 15,000 spouses from coverage
Benefits Pro reports: "The number of employers whose company health benefits plan cover the working (elsewhere) spouses of their employees has just been reduced by one — and it’s a big one, too. UPS announced in a memo to employees that it would cut up as many as...
Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions
The IRS reports: "The Affordable Care Act was enacted on March 23, 2010. It contains some tax provisions that are in effect and more that will be implemented during the next several years. The following is a list of provisions for which the IRS has issued proposed...
Get Ready for Enrollment in Health Exchanges
The Wall Street Journal reports: "In about six weeks, Americans will have a new kind of open enrollment to consider. Starting Oct. 1, people without health insurance can sign up for standardized coverage through new health-insurance marketplaces run either by their...
Insurance Through Employer A Better Deal Than Through Exchange
Insurance News Net reports: "If you're hearing about the new Health Insurance Marketplace and wondering if it might be a better deal than your employer's insurance, the answer is: It probably isn't. People covered under most employer group insurance policies aren't...
Ten’s a crowd in the doctor’s office
Benefits Pro reports: "This week, in Time magazine, I read about a possible solution. And it frightens me. Group appointments. Yes, doctor-patient-patient-patient-patient-patient relationships. It appears more people are seeing their doctor with another nine or so...