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Posts Tagged ‘Glenview’

New Final Regulations Expand the Availability of HRAs

Wednesday, July 24th, 2019

JD Supra reports:

“On June 13, 2019, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Treasury (the “Departments”), published final regulations which significantly broaden the types of health plans that may be integrated with a health reimbursement arrangement (“HRA”). More specifically, beginning January 2020, the finalized rules allow HRAs to be integrated with certain qualifying individual health plan coverage and/or Medicare.  The final rules reverse current guidance which requires HRAs to be integrated with only qualifying group health plan coverage. Practically speaking, this means that employers, beginning in 2020, will be allowed to subsidize employee premiums in the individual health insurance market and/or Medicare using pre-tax dollars, provided certain conditions are met. The final rules also allow certain HRAs to reimburse participants for certain premiums paid for excepted benefits. To achieve these results, the final rules create two new types of HRAs.

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‘Medicare for All’ system could be complicated, potentially disruptive, say budget analysts

Monday, May 20th, 2019

USA Today reports:

“As “Medicare for All” increasingly becomes a battle cry for Democrats on Capitol Hill and those running for president, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office weighed in Wednesday on how difficult it could be to move to a single government health care system.

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DOJ asks for speedy hearing in case that could kill Obamacare

Monday, April 15th, 2019

Politico reports:

“The Trump administration wants oral arguments in the appeal of a lower court ruling invalidating Obamacare to take place the week of July 8.

The Justice Department filed a motion to expedite oral arguments in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday. It indicated that its proposed timeline is unopposed by the other parties in the case.

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How much more will health care cost your company in 2018?

Friday, August 18th, 2017

Crain’s Chicago Business reports:

“Around this time of year, many human resources executives and brokers are putting the finishing touches on health insurance plans they’ll offer to employees in the fall. They face tough questions: Will rising costs be swallowed by the company? Or will the bitter pill be passed down to employees?

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Blue Cross Blue Shield Confirms Obamacare Death Spiral

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

According to The Beacon:

” The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, which represents 36 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans covering 105 million Americans, has just released a study of its members’ claims data in Obamacare exchanges 2014 and 2015. It confirms that Obamacare exchange enrollees are sicker and more expensive than enrollees in pre-Obamacare individual plans or employer-based plans.

Here I quote four of the study’s findings:

  • Members who newly enrolled in BCBS individual health plans in 2014 and 2015 have higher rates of certain diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, depression, coronary artery disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Hepatitis C than individuals who had BCBS individual coverage prior to health-care reform.
  • Consumers who newly enrolled in BCBS individual health plans in 2014 and 2015 received significantly more medical care, on average, than those with BCBS individual plans prior to 2014 who maintained BCBS individual health coverage into 2015, as well as those with BCBS employer-based group health insurance.

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Blue Cross, Advocate team up on new health insurance plan

Monday, January 11th, 2016

Crains Chicago Business Reports:

“Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois and Advocate Health Care are teaming up to offer a health plan that will be one of the cheapest options the insurer offers on and off the Obamacare exchange.
The plan, called BlueCare Direct, is a marriage of two giants. Blue Cross is the largest health insurer in the state, and Downers Grove-based Advocate is the largest health care system, with 12 hospitals and more than 4,000 doctors.

The BlueCare Direct network will include 250 of Advocate’s sites of care in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane and Will counties, including nine of its hospitals and a children’s hospital with two campuses. Enrollees can stick with their primary care doctor outside of Advocate’s system, but the plan will not cover it, said Dr. Lee Sacks, chief medical officer for Advocate.

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Will Only Suckers Pay The ObamaCare Tax Penalty?

Friday, February 27th, 2015

Investor’s Business Daily reports:

“This year, as many as 6 million taxpayers will learn that they now owe a “Shared Responsibility Payment” because they didn’t have health insurance last year.

The SRP is a clumsy euphemism for the ObamaCare individual mandate tax penalty, which is $95 or 1% of household income, whichever is greater, for those who didn’t have insurance in 2014. That increases to the greater of $325 or 2% of income for those who don’t have insurance this year, and then to $695 or 2.5% of income the year after that.

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Medical Debt Still a Problem Under Health Law — Despite Protections

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

Kaiser Health News reports:

“Elizabeth and Britt Harmon struggled for years to have a child, and were thrilled when their son Orin was born in February 2013. But they were unprepared for the medical problems that then upended the Brooksville, Maine couple’s lives.

Orin was born with pulmonary stenosis, a heart condition, and severe asthma.  He required constant care, including frequent trips to the hospital and medications that cost hundreds of dollars. The Harmons had insurance through Britt’s job at a plumbing company, but it covered “maybe half” of their child’s medical expenses, Elizabeth said.

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Government Blinks Again on Obamacare

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

Bloomberg View reports:

“If you got health insurance subsidies last year, and you’re worried that you got too much in federal tax credits and will be faced with a huge tax bill for repayment, then you can worry a little less: The IRS says that people who are liable for repayment (“clawback”) of excess subsidies won’t have to pay by April 15.

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