Starting on January 1, 2020, employers will be able to help their employees pay for qualified medical costs–such as premiums for an Individual Marketplace plan–through a new individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA). An ICHRA is an alternative to a traditional group plan that allows employees to select their own plan on the individual market.
Posts Tagged ‘Wasco’
New Tool To Determine HRA Affordability
Tuesday, October 29th, 2019Tags: Broker, Costs, Employers, exchange, individual, Marketplace, Medicaid, Medicare, UnitedHealthcare, Vergil, Villa Park, Village of Lakewood, Walt Disney Co., Warrenville, Wasco
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Legislation Opens Door for Retirement Match on Student Loan Repayments
Thursday, January 3rd, 2019“Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, has introduced legislation that would permit 401(k), 403(b), and SIMPLE retirement plans to make matching contributions to workers as if their student loan payments were salary reduction contributions.
Tags: 401 k, 401k, Employers, retirement plan, student loan debt, student loan repayment, Warrenville, Wasco, Wayne, Will, Will County
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Obamacare Encounters Another Bump in the Road
Thursday, April 28th, 2016According to News Max Finance:
” Well, the hammer has fallen: The largest health insurer in the U.S. has started pulling out of select Obamacare exchanges.
Five months ago UnitedHealth, which had been singing sunny songs to investors about its bright future on the exchanges, abruptly began crooning the blues. In an earnings call barely a month after executives assured investors that all was going swimmingly, they confessed that they were losing a ton of money on their Obamacare policies and described a pattern that sounded as if consumers were gaming the system — signing up for a few months, using a ton of services, and then canceling their policies. If this continued, they said, they would have no choice but to pull out of the exchange business. (more…)
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IRS Grants Extension for 6055 and 6056 Reporting
Tuesday, January 26th, 2016According to United Healthcare, Broker Connection Special Edition:
“On Dec. 28, 2015, the IRS announced that it is granting an automatic extension for the 2015 information returns required of insurers, employers and certain other providers of Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) under Section 6055 and 6056 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).
Coverage providers that need more time now have until March 31 to get Form 1095 to individuals and until June 30 to electronically file with the IRS. For providers not filing electronically, the deadline is May 31, 2016. (more…)
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Coming soon to your mailbox: An Obamacare tax form
Tuesday, January 26th, 2016According to The CT Mirror:
“Even if you don’t get your health insurance through Obamacare, you’re likely to get something related to the health law in the mail in the coming weeks: A new tax form.

The 1095-A form exchange customers will receive. Others will get different versions, depending on the source of their health care coverage.
Known as Form 1095, it’s part of the way the federal government verifies whether people are complying with the mandate that requires nearly all U.S. residents to have health care coverage. This year is the first time most people will be getting those forms, and officials are anticipating a fair amount of confusion. In part, that’s because what you need to do with that form depends on the type of coverage you had.
Here’s what you need to know. (more…)
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Posted in Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance News, Heath Care Costs | Comments Off on Coming soon to your mailbox: An Obamacare tax form
Humana to Record 2016 Obamacare Shortfall, Membership Drops
Tuesday, January 26th, 2016According to Bloomberg Business:
“Humana Inc. is the latest insurer to run into trouble in Obamacare’s individual health-insurance markets.
The health insurer said that it probably won’t collect enough money to cover costs for some customers who bought individual plans, and will set aside what’s known as a premium deficiency reserve. The shortfall is for 2016 plans that comply with new rules under the Affordable Care Act, Louisville, Kentucky-based Humana said Friday.
UnitedHealth Group Inc., the biggest U.S. health insurer, said in November that it might stop participating in the Obamacare next year after taking losses. One analyst predicted that Humana would follow suit.
(more…)
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Feds tighten when people can enroll in Obamacare plans
Tuesday, January 26th, 2016According to USA Today:
“Bowing to pressure from insurers, federal officials on Tuesday tightened the conditions under which people can sign up for plans on the HealthCare.govexchange outside open enrollment.
The move by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services comes after complaints by health insurers that it was too easy for people to wait until they were sick to sign up and to drop coverage after they got treatment. Earlier Tuesday, UnitedHealth announced a 19% drop in profit and downgraded its earnings forecast citing concerns about its Obamacare enrollment and the flexibility people had to change insurance plans. (more…)
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Posted in Affordable Care Act, Health Insurance News, Open Enrollment | Comments Off on Feds tighten when people can enroll in Obamacare plans
CMS Proposes Health Insurance Exchange Changes for 2017
Monday, January 11th, 2016California Healthline Reports:
“On Friday, CMS released a proposed rule that would require minimum network standards for health plans sold through the federal exchange in 2017, Modern Healthcare reports.
Proposed Rule’s Network Standards
Under the rule, states would be required to implement CMS-approved quantitative measures to ensure that individuals with exchange plans have adequate access to health care providers. States could either:
- Adopt default network adequacy standards set by CMS; or
- Draft their own network adequacy standards and submit them for HHS approval.
Such standards could measure a plan’s network adequacy based on policyholders’ maximum travel distances and times to access providers. According to CMS, minimum adequacy standards for the plans will be determined at a later date. HHS would then notify insurers of the standards in each state (Herman/Dickson, Modern Healthcare, 11/20). (more…)
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Blue Cross, UnitedHealthcare return to Illinois Obamacare exchange
Monday, January 11th, 2016Crain’s Chicago Business Reports:
“Aetna is returning to sell plans on the Illinois health insurance exchange after taking a year off.
Also returning are giants Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois, the dominant insurer in the state; UnitedHealthcare, which is affiliated with Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group, and Chicago-based Land of Lincoln Health.
Mostly familiar faces are returning to the exchange for enrollment that begins Nov. 1, according to the Illinois Department of Insurance. Other companies that received federal approval to sell plans include:
—Health Alliance, based in downstate Urbana.
—Celtic Insurance, which is part of St. Louis-based Centene Corp.
—Coventry Health, part of Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna.
—Harken Health, of which UnitedHealth Group is an investor.
—Humana, based in Louisville, Ky.
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Healthcare.gov CEO says insurance marketplace’s complexity argues for agents
Monday, January 11th, 2016“The Affordable Care Act is confusing and complicated, which means that health insurance agents and brokers are needed to help consumers pick the best plans for them, Kevin Counihan, chief executive officer of Healthcare.gov, said Monday.
“It’s got plenty of opportunity to be made a little bit better,” Counihan said. “And I’m very hopeful and confident that as we get more adults in Congress that they’re all going to sit down, the two sides together, and they’re going to address some of these issues.”
Counihan spoke to about 20 brokers and agents at an event hosted in Baton Rouge by the Louisiana Association of Health Underwriters. (more…)
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Posted in Affordable Care Act, Health Care .gov, Health Insurance News | Comments Off on Healthcare.gov CEO says insurance marketplace’s complexity argues for agents